NEW DELHI, March 28 (Reuters) – A visiting U.S.
congressional delegation on Thursday invited the chief minister
of India’s Gujarat state, Narendra Modi, to the United States,
despite the fact that Washington has denied him a visa since
2005 because of deadly religious riots.

The invitation was a symbolic victory for Modi, a popular
but divisive Hindu nationalist leader who is widely seen as
harbouring ambitions to become prime minister in 2014 and has
been trying to win greater international acceptance.

ROME/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A decision to return two Italian marines accused of murdering fishermen to stand trial in India stirred anger in Italy on Friday and calls for Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi to resign.

Mario Monti’s caretaker government on Thursday reversed a March 11 decision not to send the marines back from a home visit after Rome secured a promise from New Delhi that the two would not face the death penalty if convicted, officials said.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Italy’s surprise decision to return two marines accused of murdering two Indian fisherman followed intense negotiations over 24 hours in which Rome secured a vow from New Delhi the two would not face the death penalty if convicted, officials said.

The marines, part of a military security team protecting a tanker from piracy in February last year, are accused of shooting the fishermen off the southern Indian state of Kerala.

NEW DELHI, March 17 (Reuters) – Indian Defence Minister A.K.
Antony is leaning toward barring Anglo-Italian helicopter firm
AgustaWestland from doing business in the country because of a
corruption scandal, but he could be outvoted by cabinet
colleagues, several government sources said.

Some cabinet ministers and even officials within the defence
ministry fear such a move could set back India’s efforts to
modernise its military, the sources told Reuters. India plans to
spend $100 billion in the next decade on military hardware.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the AgustaWestland bribery case raided homes and business premises in New Delhi and two other cities on Wednesday after formally launching a probe into the helicopter firm and its parent company, Finmeccanica.

The government will take the “strongest possible action” if the CBI finds wrongdoing, junior defence minister Jitender Singh told parliament as the raids were under way.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian police investigating the AgustaWestland bribery case raided homes and business premises in the New Delhi area and two other cities on Wednesday after formally launching a probe into the helicopter firm and its parent company, Finmeccanica.

The government will take the “strongest possible action” if the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) finds wrongdoing, junior defense minister Jitender Singh told parliament as the raids were under way.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years on Thursday, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centrepiece of India’s efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade.

The 2013/14 budget caps an intensive seven-month campaign by the energetic Chidambaram, who was appointed last August, to turn around the fortunes of Asia’s third-largest economy after years of policy drift and global economic turmoil.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years on Thursday, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centrepiece of India’s efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade.

The 2013/14 budget caps an intensive seven-month campaign by the energetic Chidambaram, who was appointed last August, to turn around the fortunes of Asia’s third-largest economy after years of policy drift and global economic turmoil.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated Indian budgets of recent years on Thursday, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centerpiece of India’s efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade.

The 2013/14 budget caps an intensive seven-month campaign by the energetic Chidambaram, who was appointed last August, to turn around the fortunes of Asia’s third-largest economy after years of policy drift and global economic turmoil.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A quiet lunch between European Union ambassadors and Indian prime ministerial contender Narendra Modi has shattered what remained of a decade-old informal boycott of the Hindu nationalist political leader.

The January 7 lunch at the German ambassador’s residence in New Delhi will likely be seen as a major boost to Modi’s quest for mainstream acceptance. The meeting went unpublicized until an Indian newspaper reported on it on Friday.