United States Vice President JD Vance has arrived in India for a four-day visit as New Delhi looks to avoid US tariffs, negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Washington and strengthen ties with the administration of President Donald Trump.
Vance was meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the first day of his largely personal visit. He was greeted with a hug by the Indian leader at his residence in New Delhi, photos released by the Indian government showed.
Over the visit, the two leaders were set to discuss plans for strengthened bilateral ties outlined in February when Modi met Trump at the White House in Washington, DC.
“The visit comes closely on the heels of a positive and successful meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi in Washington earlier this year,” Vance’s office said in a statement.
The US is India’s largest trading partner, and the two countries have been holding negotiations aimed at sealing a new trade agreement this year. The talks had started before Trump early this month announced sweeping tariffs on all trade partners, including 26 percent levies on India.
Trump later paused the country-specific tariffs for 90 days. His administration framed the move as part of a grand negotiating tactic aimed at leveraging better deals with partners like India.
Under the current deal being discussed, India and the US have set the ambitious target of more than doubling their trade to $500bn by 2030, while vowing to integrate supply chains and boost jobs in both countries.
Dancers wearing traditional attire perform upon Vance’s arrival in New Delhi [Kenny Holston/Reuters]
Vance’s first visit to New Delhi since becoming vice president in January also coincides with a rapidly intensifying trade war between Washington and Beijing, which is New Delhi’s main rival in the region.
Modi and Vance are expected to “review the progress in bilateral relations” and “exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest”, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
On Monday, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Vance’s visit will “further deepen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership”.
Countering China
Washington has long viewed India as an important strategic ally in combating the rising influence of China in the Asia Pacific region and has sought to strengthen ties in recent years.
India is part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the US, Japan and Australia and is seen as a counterbalance to China’s expansion. Trump is expected to attend a summit of Quad leaders in India later this year.
Modi had personally sought to establish a strong working relationship with Trump during the US president’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021.
The Indian leader was then among the first leaders to visit the US and hold talks with Trump after he returned to the White House for a second term on January 20.
During his visit, Modi hailed a “mega partnership” with the US.
The two leaders announced plans to expand their defence partnership with India signalling its willingness to comply with several of the Trump administration’s demands, including purchasing more US oil, energy and defence equipment.
Modi has also cooperated with Trump’s campaign to deport people living in the US without documentation. India has accepted many of its citizens expelled from the US in the past few months with the prime minister’s office batting away criticism of how some deportees have been treated.
Iran says it will brief China this week in advance of a third round of talks with the United States on its nuclear programme, as Iranian officials separately accused Israel of seeking to “undermine and disrupt the diplomatic process”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Beijing on Tuesday to discuss the latest talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump on the country’s nuclear programme, spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday.
The trip echoes “consultations” Iran held with Russia last week, before the second round of direct US-Iran talks was held over the weekend. A third round of talks between Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to take place in Oman on Saturday.
Araghchi has previously said Tehran always closely consults with its allies, Russia and China, over the nuclear issue.
“It is natural that we will consult and brief China over the latest developments in Iran-US indirect talks,” Baqaei said.
Russia and China, both nuclear-armed powers, were signatories to a now-defunct 2015 deal between Iran, the US and several Western countries intended to defuse tensions around Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which Trump withdrew in 2018, saw Tehran curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
The US and Israel have accused Iran of seeking to use the programme to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has staunchly denied the claim, saying the programme is for civilian purposes.
On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed close ties between Beijing and Tehran, but did not confirm the Iranian minister’s planned visit.
“China and Iran have maintained exchanges and contacts at all levels and in various fields. With regard to the specific visit mentioned, I have no information to offer at the moment,” Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the ministry, said.
Strengthened alliance
Israel’s war in Gaza has seen Iran pull closer to Russia and China. Recent diplomatic moves surrounding the US-Iran talks have further underscored the strengthened ties.
Araghchi met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, last week, just before his second round of negotiations with Witkoff.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on a 20-year strategic partnership treaty agreed earlier this year with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Meanwhile, Iran’s already fraught relations with Israel and its “ironclad” ally, the US, have nosedived amid the war. Since taking office, Trump has reinstated a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran, while repeatedly threatening military action if a new nuclear deal is not reached.
Speaking on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Baqaei accused Israel of trying to disrupt the nascent negotiations to open the way for military action.
In comments carried by the AFP news agency, he declared that Israel is behind efforts from a “kind of coalition” to “undermine and disrupt the diplomatic process”.
“Alongside it are a series of warmongering currents in the United States and figures from different factions,” the spokesman said.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
His statement came a day after The New York Times reported that Trump had dissuaded Israel from striking Iran’s nuclear sites in the short term, saying Washington wanted to prioritise diplomatic talks.
‘Consultations must continue’
Baqaei added that “consultations must continue” with countries that were party to the JCPOA.
Iran has gradually breached the terms of the treaty since Trump abandoned it, most notably by enriching uranium to levels higher than those laid out in the deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent level needed to manufacture weapons. The JCPOA had restricted it to 3. 67 percent, the level of enrichment needed for civilian power.
Speaking last week, Witkoff sent mixed messages on what level Washington is seeking. He initially said in an interview that Tehran needed to reduce its uranium enrichment to the 3. 67 percent limit, but later clarified that the US wants Iran to end its enrichment programme.
The Israeli army has described its killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza and burying them and their vehicles as a “professional error”.
The bodies of 14 humanitarian workers were found in a mass grave along with their crushed vehicles a week after coming under Israeli fire in late March. One body had been found a few days before.
The army said it had “shrouded” the bodies with cloth and sand to protect them until humanitarian organisations could retrieve them.
Israel had blocked access to the site for days, later insisting it was not an attempt to cover up the attack.
Here’s what to know about the attack, Israel’s claims and how the investigation stacks up against other evidence:
What happened to the emergency workers and vehicles in Gaza?
March 23: About 4am (01:00 GMT), a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance was dispatched to join an earlier one helping people injured in an Israeli air strike in Rafah’s al-Hashaashin area.
Contact was lost with it, and the first ambulance went back out to find it about 5am. The paramedics radioed back that they could see casualties on the ground on the way to Tal as-Sultan, another area in southern Gaza.
Two more ambulances were dispatched along with a firetruck and other emergency vehicles. They came under Israeli gunfire for more than five minutes. Minutes later, soldiers also fired at a United Nations car that stopped at the scene. The PRCS lost contact with its team.
March 24: The Israeli military blocked access to the site of the attacks.
March 27-28: United Nations and Palestinian officials gain limited access to the area, recovering the vehicles and bodies of a Gaza Civil Defence member.
March 30: The bodies of five Civil Defence responders, a UN employee and eight PRCS workers are found in a shallow grave. A ninth PRCS worker, Assaad al-Nassasra, is being held by Israel, PRCS confirmed later. In total, Israel killed 15 emergency workers in the attack.
What did video evidence show?
A video found on the phone of slain paramedic Rifaat Radwan shows the team’s final moments.
The video, filmed from inside one of the last two ambulances to head out, shows a firetruck and ambulances driving ahead through the night.
All vehicles were clearly identified with emergency lights flashing.
The vehicles stopped when they see an ambulance and bodies by the roadside, and first responders in reflective uniforms exit the vehicles. Moments later, intense gunfire erupts.
As the gunfire continues, Radwan can be heard asking his mother for forgiveness and reciting the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada, before he dies.
What did the Israeli investigation say?
After a review, the Israeli military described the killings as “professional failures” and a “misunderstanding”. Nobody has been charged.
It dismissed a deputy commander for “providing an incomplete report” and reprimanded a commanding officer.
Major General Yoav Har-Even, who conducted the review, said two responders were killed in an initial incident, 12 people were killed in a second shooting and another person was killed in a third incident.
“The fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting,” the military statement said.
Troops bulldozed over the bodies and their mangled vehicles, but the investigation said that was not an attempt to conceal the attack.
The Military Advocate General’s Corps, meant to be an independent body under Israel’s attorney general and Supreme Court, can now decide whether to file civil charges.
How did Israel explain shooting the ambulances?
The investigative report said soldiers did not recognise the ambulances due to “poor night visibility” and because flashing lights are less visible on night-vision drones and goggles.
It also blamed the now-dismissed deputy commander, saying he mistakenly thought the ambulance was being used by Hamas and opened fire first.
Israel has tried to justify previous attacks on protected entities by saying Hamas hides among civilians and uses ambulances to carry out operations.
Har-Even told reporters that one of the humanitarian workers at the scene was questioned over suspected Hamas links. The man, Munther Abed, was released the next day.
Before the video of the attack was found, Israel’s military had said the ambulances had been “advancing suspiciously” towards its soldiers “without headlights or emergency signals”.
Palestinians mourn the slain medics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis [File: Hatem Khaled/Reuters]
How did Israel explain shooting uniformed medics?
The first responders were “in their uniforms, still wearing gloves” when they were killed, said Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territory.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said several team members were found with their hands and feet bound and bullet wounds to the head and torso, indicating they were executed at close range after being identified as humanitarian workers.
Without offering proof, the Israeli investigative report said six of those killed were “Hamas members” although no Palestinian fighters were reported found in the mass grave.
Har-Even told reporters that no paramedic was armed and no weapons were found in any vehicle.
An Israeli military official said the bodies had been covered “in sand and cloth” to preserve them until their retrieval could be coordinated with international organisations.
The army also said it has found “no evidence to support claims of execution” and “such claims are blood libels and false accusations against [Israeli] soldiers”.
How thoroughly does Israel investigate itself?
Human rights groups and international legal experts said Israel’s self-reviews often lack independence and transparency.
Israel said it reviews its military’s conduct through internal probes led by its military advocate general, who decides whether to pursue criminal investigations.
But the military has a track record of denying wrongdoing, contradicting itself or blaming low-ranking individuals without broader repercussions for the armed forces.
In 2022, it claimed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian fire until several media investigations debunked that. Israel later admitted it may have shot her “accidentally” but ruled out a criminal probe.
In January, the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor defended seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing Israel’s failure to genuinely investigate allegations of war crimes.
How have critics responded?
The PRCS and the Israeli rights organisation Breaking the Silence have rejected the findings of the Israeli probe.
“It is incomprehensible why the occupation soldiers buried the bodies of the paramedics,” PRCS President Younis al-Khatib told Al Araby TV.
Asian cybercrime syndicates have caused an estimated $37bn in losses in the East and Southeast Asian regions, with the United Nations warning that the reach of the criminal networks is expanding globally.
In a report released on Monday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) detailed how Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs have been raking in tens of billions of dollars annually targeting victims in an array of cybercrimes, including fake investments, cryptocurrency, romance and other scams.
The criminal organisation have largely operated out of squalid compounds in the border areas of Myanmar, as well as in so-called “special economic zones” designed to attract foreign investment in Cambodia and Laos. They have relied on often trafficked workers forced to work in squalid compounds.
While the report said countries in East and Southeast Asia lost an estimated $37bn to cyber-fraud in 2023, there were “much larger estimated losses” worldwide.
The report warned that the networks have been spreading to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Pacific Islands.
“We are seeing a global expansion of East and Southeast Asian organized crime groups,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“This reflects both industry growth and a strategy to evade crackdowns in Southeast Asia,” Hofmann said.
‘Spreads like a cancer’
The report said the syndicates have established footholds in African nations, including Zambia, Angola, and Namibia, as well as Pacific island nations, including Fiji and Vanuatu.
They have also expanded their money laundering strategies, forging alliances with South American drug cartels, the Italian mafia, and Irish mobsters, according to the report.
Cryptocurrency mining – typically referring to the creation of new cryptocurrencies and the validation of transactions – has become a key tool for obscuring illicit funds, according to the report.
In one instance, in June 2023, Libyan authorities raided an illegal crypto mining operation in a militia-controlled area, arresting 50 Chinese nationals.
Recent crackdowns in Myanmar, backed by China, also freed about 7,000 trafficked workers.
However, the UN warned that while enforcement disrupts operations temporarily, the syndicates have proven adept at adapting.
“It spreads like a cancer,” said Hofmann. “Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear, they simply migrate. ”
New technologies have further complicated the situation, with criminal networks operating self-contained digital ecosystems, using encrypted messaging, payment apps, and cryptocurrencies to evade law enforcement, the report said.
The UN agency further warned of “potentially irreversible spillover has taken place…leaving criminal groups free to pick, choose, and move … as needed”.
A day before Easter, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire for the Christian holiday. Like other Russian promises, this one was broken too. Ukrainian media reported Russian drone attacks, shelling and firefights across the front lines. Ukrainian civilians were also targeted.
This ceasefire that wasn’t came on the tail of another one: a 30-day ceasefire that was supposed to cover energy infrastructure. That was violated at least 30 times, per Ukrainian media reports.
Throughout this time, United States President Donald Trump has continued to maintain that peace could be achieved. Even after his own Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the US could walk away from its mediator role because of lack of progress, the president still showed optimism that a deal was possible.
On Easter Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week. ”
A week earlier, Russia struck the Ukrainian city of Sumy with ballistic missiles. The death toll from the attack reached 34 people, including two children, with more than a dozen injured. Even this bloody attack did not sway the US president, who called it “a mistake”.
It is by now clear that three months into his presidency, Trump is failing dramatically in Ukraine. He must now realise that bold promises are easier made than fulfilled. He has not ended the war in 24 hours and will not do so in 100 days either, as he has promised.
Under his leadership, Washington’s mediating drive appears stalled and its strategy unclear. A president who prides himself on deal-making and strength now stands indecisive and ineffective.
If this continues, Trump risks failing twice: once as a negotiator and again as an ally. His current approach is not only weakening the role of the US in the world but also emboldening Russia to continue its aggression.
Despite the Trump administration’s outreach to the Kremlin, it has received nothing more than empty rhetoric and broken promises for ceasefires.
Putin’s stance hasn’t changed: He demands recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian regions the Russian army partially occupies, no NATO membership for Kyiv and a limit on the size of its army. He has also openly called for regime change in the country, demanding elections during the war.
Putin feels he’s negotiating from a position of strength and refuses to compromise. Trump currently lacks the leverage to make him reconsider, and so his strategy is to pressure Ukraine into capitulating to Russia. He is making the situation worse with his policies on military aid for Ukraine.
After initially halting the transfer of weapons and munitions and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Trump partially reversed his stance. He allowed military assistance approved by the administration of his predecessor President Joe Biden to resume, but he has refused to consider a new package once the current one comes to an end.
His administration still has several billion dollars available for drawdown, which could be allocated for further security support to Ukraine, but Trump has not signalled he is willing to approve it.
That means Ukraine will soon face a situation in which key munitions stocks run out. Russia knows this, and it is using negotiations with the US to buy time.
While it is waiting for the Ukrainian army to run out of vital supplies, Moscow has also initiated a large troop mobilisation. The call-up of 160,000 new conscripts marks a significant escalation. Ukrainian commanders have warned that major offensives could begin within weeks across multiple fronts.
Putin’s aim is to use the Trump administration’s self-professed “peace-making” ambitions to his advantage. His strategy is to drag out ceasefire negotiations until US military aid runs out and the Russian army is able to advance far enough into Ukrainian territory to force Kyiv into capitulation.
For Ukraine, defeat is not an option. The nation is still standing and will continue fighting because its freedom and independence are at stake. Even if Trump puts more pressure on Kyiv to consider a bad “peace deal” with Russia in which it makes all the concessions Putin wants, no Ukrainian leader would sign it because that would mean political ruin.
Europe, for all its hesitations and internal divisions, has little choice now but to become a full-fledged ally of Kyiv. Europeans know Russia would not stop at Ukraine, and the threat is existential for them as well. The Kremlin is already preparing the Russian population through a large-scale propaganda campaign that a “great war” with NATO countries is necessary.
In the face of this threat, European countries are looking to rearm, and for this, they need time. This means that Ukraine’s war of liberation will continue for years, with or without US involvement.
Meanwhile, the US under its current course will sink deeper into domestic crises, consumed by the aftershocks of self-isolation and haunted by costly decisions in a world it no longer leads. This will be what Trump leaves behind: a legacy not of resolution but of retreat.
If he does not change course, history will remember him not as a strong leader who brought peace but as a boastful, naive man who made promises he could not fulfil.
An Israeli military investigation says “professional failures” and poor night vision led its troops to shoot dead 15 Palestinian rescue workers in Rafah on March 23. The report contradicts weeks of Israeli statements which claimed the medics posed a threat to Israeli troops.
