Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- India’s Prime Minister Modi is visiting Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
- He is due to hold talks with Modi
- India’s Foreign Ministry says 300 Indians are missing in Nepal and 200 are stranded in Tibet
- Most were pilgrims on Mansarovar Yatra
- India sends 10 metric tons of disaster-relief supplies to Nepal
- US panel on religious freedom urges government to place sanctions on RSS members
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Skip next section Thank you for reading!08/27/2026August 27, 2026
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https://p.dw.com/p/5JV1ZSkip next section WATCH: Why Ladakh’s ghost villages could have a future again08/27/2026August 27, 2026
WATCH: Why Ladakh’s ghost villages could have a future again
Abandoned homes, shrinking glaciers, water shortages and empty fields tell one story. But two educational initiatives tell another: Change is possible, the future can look different.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5JUU1Skip next section India’s Modi to hold bilateral talks with Putin08/27/2026August 27, 2026
India’s Modi to hold bilateral talks with Putin
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Kyrgyz Republic, India’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.
“A meeting is scheduled between both the leaders of India and Russia on the sidelines of the summit,” Foreign Ministry official Sibi George said in a special briefing. “Both sides are expected to review the entire gamut of bilateral relationship during the meeting between the leaders on the sidelines of the SCO in Bishkek,” he said.
Modi is set to visit Uzbekistan from August 29-30 on a bilateral visit, after which he will visit the Kyrgyz Republic for the 26th SCO Summit from August 31 to September 1.
Russia and India are both permanent members of the SCO, along with China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Iran.
The confirmation of Modi and Putin’s upcoming meeting comes just days after Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met the Russian leader in Moscow for a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation.
“I hope to see him soon,” Putin had said then speaking of Modi, adding that he was expecting to meet the Indian prime minister at the SCO summit.
India and Russia have had long-standing bilateral ties despite Russia’s growing closeness with China and Western pressure on India to distance itself from Moscow economically amid the war in Ukraine.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JUNCSkip next section IN DEPTH: India: Assam tea industry faces climate-driven labor crisis08/27/2026August 27, 2026
IN DEPTH: India: Assam tea industry faces climate-driven labor crisis
The problems facing upper Assam’s tea gardens are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore for workers like Bidesh Kamar and Sumitra Tanti.
Recent floods disrupted work for weeks in the northeast Indian state, adding even more uncertainty to their already precarious livelihood. More than 50 tea gardens were damaged following a devastating storm that swept across parts of Assam.
“Life has become unpredictable,” Tanti told DW. “The weather can disrupt work, while wages remain low and work is not as dependable as it once was,” she added.
Kamar said the economics of tea have changed.
Their experience points to a growing problem for Assam’s tea industry. With the business becoming less profitable and working conditions more uncertain, the industry is struggling to retain the experienced workforce which forms the backbone of the state’s tea production.
Read thefull story here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JTWCSkip next section Modi wants India to boost participation in Olympic sports08/27/2026August 27, 2026
Modi wants India to boost participation in Olympic sports
India’s performance at the Olympics can only improve if the nation increases its participation in events it previously didn’t take part in, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
“In the Olympics, there are so many different sports… Indian teams don’t even participate in half of them. Meaning, we don’t even compete for a huge chunk of the medal tally,” he said in a virtual address to hundreds of athletes, students and volunteers who had gathered at multiple Locations for the Khelo India Dialogue.
“Other countries of the world win medals in those sports, and we don’t even participate in them. To increase our medal tally, we will have to master these sports as well,” he said.
India participated in only 16 of the 32 sports at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The Khelo India Dialogue, which translates to “Play India Dialogue,” came ahead of India’s National Sports Day on 29th August.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JTvASkip next section Nearly 300 Indians missing in Nepal, 200 stranded in China: India’s foreign ministry08/27/2026August 27, 2026
Nearly 300 Indians missing in Nepal, 200 stranded in China: India’s foreign ministry
At least 488 Indian nationals were “uncontactable” or “stranded” in Nepal and China as of Thursday afternoon, India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a briefing.
“There are 288 Indian nationals who remain uncontactable. These include 73 Indian nationals working on Trishuli 1 power project. Our embassy in Kathmandu is in touch with the project head,” Jaiswal told reporters, adding that the missing Indians come from several states, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala.
As of 1 p.m. local time, 21 Indian nationals from Tamil Nadu had been rescued in Nepal, Jaiswal said. “Our ambassador has spoken to the people in the group and has assured all possible help,” he said.
Hundreds of Indian nationals were also stranded on the Chinese side of the disaster.
“A number of Indian nationals who had gone on the Kailash Mansorovar Yatra are stranded on the Chinese side. There are approximately 200 Indian nationals there who have sought our assistance for evacuation,” the spokesperson said, adding that the Indian embassy in Beijing was coordinating with local authorities for their safe return to India.
Jaiswal warned that the flash floods had put authorities in a “dynamic situation,” with the numbers of those missing, stranded or rescued likely to change in the upcoming hours.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JTh6Skip next section US religious freedom panel urges sanctions against India’s RSS chief ahead of NYC visit08/27/2026August 27, 2026
US religious freedom panel urges sanctions against India’s RSS chief ahead of NYC visit
A bipartisan US panel on religious freedom urged the US government to impose targeted sanctions on Mohan Bhagwat — the chief of a controversial Hindu nationalist group in India which is closely associated with India’s current ruling party.
Bhagwat is currently on a visit to the US and is scheduled to speak at an event in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
“We urge the US government to consider targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious
freedom violations, including revoking the visa issued to Mohan Bhagwat,” Asif Mahmood, chair of the US Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said in a statement.
The USCIRF is a bipartisan body of the US government which monitors religious freedom around the world and accordingly makes policy recommendations. Those recommendations are not binding.
India’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the panel’s assertions and accused it of being biased against India.
About the RSS
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, is often referred to as the Sangh. The group describes itself as a “Hindu-centric civilizational, cultural movement” focused on uniting Hindus and disputes accusations that it promotes intolerance.
The RSS is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the prime minister has had a longstanding association with the organization.
In recent years, the organization has launched a global campaign to counter perceptions that it is a paramilitary group involved in violence against minority communities. Meanwhile, rights groups say that the RSS promotes majoritarian ideology fueling intolerance towards minorities, especially muslims, in India.
Read more about the controversy surrounding Bhagwat’s upcoming event in NYC.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5JTSISkip next section NDRF says no adverse impact from Nepal floods in UP, Bihar so far08/27/2026August 27, 2026
NDRF says no adverse impact from Nepal floods in UP, Bihar so far
Indian states on Nepal’s southern border have faced “no adverse impact so far,” India’s disaster response officials told Indian media on Thursday, a day after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were put on high alert.
“The situation is being monitored for potential future impacts. We have reserve teams available; if the need arises, the state government will be informed, and they can be deployed immediately,” National Disaster Response Force’s IG Narendra Singh Bundela told news agency ANI.
The Central Water Commission was keeping an eye on water levels which may impact Indian territories in the future, India’s Home Ministry had said on Wednesday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JTH2Skip next section India sends more aid to Nepal while disaster personnel on standby08/27/2026August 27, 2026
India sends more aid to Nepal while disaster personnel on standby
India has dispatched a second tranche of relief supplies to flood-affected Nepal on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.
“A second flight has just taken off, carrying 37.5 tonnes of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) material, medicines and food packets for Nepal,” he said in a post on X, accompanied by a video which showed the material being loaded onto a military aircraft.
On Wednesday, India had sent 10 tonnes of aid material, including essential medicines.
However, no disaster relief team has been sent to sites so far, India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) IG Narendra Singh Bundela said in a press conference on Thursday morning.
“At present, no NDRF team has been sent to Nepal. Teams have been kept on standby. If a request is received from the Nepal government and the Government of India decides accordingly, an NDRF team will be sent,” several media outlets reported him saying.
Indian Embassies in Nepal and China said they had set up helplines for information on Indian nationals impacted by the floods.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Nepali counterpart Balendra Shah on Wednesday to express condolences on the lives lost. “India is prepared to provide Nepal with all possible types of humanitarian assistance. Our teams are closely coordinating on rescue and relief efforts,” he had said in a post on X.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JSqcSkip next section Over 170 Indians missing in Nepal-Tibet floods08/27/2026August 27, 2026
Over 170 Indians missing in Nepal-Tibet floods
More than 170 Indians were unaccounted for in the Nepal-Tibet flash floods, Nepal’s tourism officials said on Thursday, as Indian authorities coordinated with their Nepalese counterparts on rescue and relief efforts.
Nepal’s police and tourism officials said that of the 800 tourists missing in the country, 177 were from India. Meanwhile, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal on Thursday said that over 300 Indian tourists were missing. He was speaking to journalists from Indian news channel NDTV World at the Anviksha Summit in Kathmandu.
“Foreign nationals, including Indians, take the route in the affected area to the Mansarovar Yatra. Close to 300 Indians have been reported missing and the government is trying to establish contact with them,” Khanal said. Kailash Mansarovar is a high-altitude site in China’s Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists.
At least 165 people have died in the flash floods which occurred at the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday. Over 1,300 were missing in both Nepal and Tibet. Nepal’s police authorities have said they expect the death toll to rise.
Several Indian states have reported that dozens of their residents were among those missing in Nepal, as per local media reports.
Verified videos of the disaster showed massive masses of debris-laden water sweeping away dozens of people at various locations. The disaster has washed away homes and villages.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5JSe9Skip next section Welcome to our coverage08/27/2026August 27, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Hello! This is Mahima Kapoor from DW’s Studio Delhi, bringing you the latest from across India.
More than 130 Indians are among the hundreds missing in Nepal’s flash floods in what is being described as the country’s worst disaster in years. The flood was triggered on Wednesday when an Avalanche reportedly blocked the flow of a tributary of the Bhotekoshi river. The river water swept away locals, pilgrims, proterties and whole villages in minutes.
India’s central and state governments have sprung into action to account for their missing, coordinate information and send aid to the affected areas.
Meanwhile in the national capital, a student-led protest over an alleged suicide at the country’s premier technology institute has entered its fourth day.
In other news, a US panel on religious freedom has urged the US government to consider targeted sanctions against the chief of a right-wing Hindu nationalist group closely associated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The panel’s recommendation came days before the said chief is scheduled to speak at a private event in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, which NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he opposes.
Stay tuned for all of this and more!
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