Modi: “India will be the world's third largest economy”. Military spending up by 15%

Today's headlines: new clashes in Baluchistan, Pakistani army reports 145 militiamen killed; Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened, but only for a few dozen people a day; Hong Kong to adopt a five-year plan to “align” with Beijing. Singapore to have a national space agency. First Grammy for Korean K-pop.

INDIA

“India wants to become the world's third largest economy by giving new impetus to domestic manufacturing and self-sufficiency”. This was stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when presenting the 2026/2027 Union Budget, the first since the storm caused by Trump's tariffs. Delhi expects a 9% increase in infrastructure spending and a 15% increase in defence spending. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that the government will boost manufacturing in seven strategic sectors, including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, rare earth magnets, chemicals, capital goods, textiles and sporting goods.

PAKISTAN

A series of gun and bomb attacks in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, Pakistan, killed 31 civilians and 17 members of the security forces over the weekend, according to provincial government chief Sarfraz Bugti. In 40 hours of gun battles, Pakistani security forces claim to have killed at least 145 militants. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) rebel group had previously claimed responsibility for the attacks. This is an escalation of violence in this poor but resource-rich province, where the Pakistani government has been fighting an ethnic insurgency for decades.

PALESTINE-ISRAEL-EGYPT

Several dozen Palestinians have begun returning through the Rafah crossing on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt after it was reopened to pedestrian traffic. The crossing has been largely closed since May 2024, when the Palestinian side was conquered by Israeli forces. The long-delayed reopening is a key part of the first phase of the ceasefire plan between Israel and Hamas. Only a limited number of people per day will be allowed to cross the border in both directions after undergoing special checks. Humanitarian aid and commercial goods will continue to be prohibited from passing through Rafah.

HONG KONG-CHINA

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will formulate its own five-year plan for the first time, in order to align it with that of Beijing. This was announced by the head of the local government, John Lee, in a joint interview with Now TV and the Hong Kong Economic Journal. He said that once the Two Sessions meetings in Beijing, scheduled for early next month, have approved the People's Republic's five-year plan, a task force dedicated to alignment will be created. The Chief Executive also said that his government intends to focus more on “new emerging markets”, giving priority to visits to Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

SINGAPORE

From 1 April, Singapore will also have its own national space agency. This was announced by the Minister for Energy and Science and Technology, Tan See Leng, who said that the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) aims to seize the opportunities of the growing space economy and the new possibilities offered by democratised access to outer space. The Singaporean government currently co-owns three Earth observation satellites with ST Engineering.

SOUTH KOREA-UNITED STATES

“Golden”, the main song from the film K-Pop Demon Hunters, has become the first K-pop song - the popular South Korean music genre - to win a Grammy Award. Performed by the fictional band Huntr/x, it won the award for Best Song for Visual Media in Los Angeles. Other winners included the Dalai Lama, who won the award for Best Audiobook.

RUSSIA

A judicial auction was held for the sale to private individuals of Moscow's Domodedovo airport, which was confiscated from its owners because they had foreign passports.

The winner was the company Perspektiva, which owns the main Sheremetyevo airport, paying 66 billion roubles, half the initial price of 132 billion roubles. It is controlled by oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, one of Vladimir Putin's “trusted wallets”.KYRGYZSTANThe security adviser to the Kyrgyz presidency, Taalatbek Masadykov, has been appointed secretary of the Eurasian military alliance CSTO, and has stated that the growth of geopolitical tension in Eurasia is linked to the “transformation of the global security system and the increased risk of military conflicts”, and that the region is becoming “a centre of the multipolar world that is forming” to find new international balances.

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