India’s pilgrimage business is booming, with choppers for the rich and dorm beds for the poor. But the days of wooing foreigners to the Taj, Jaisalmer, and Palace on Wheels are over.
Around 60 families in Kanpur—most of them newly married couples—have cancelled their planned trips to Kashmir. Pune, Haryana, Chandigarh are all witnessing a wave of cancellations.
Over the last decade, we have begun to take the stand that even if foreign travellers do not want to come, we don’t really care. Even Indians are increasingly avoiding our tourist destinations.
The Nainital littering incident shows that many tourists can’t manage the simple act of putting their rubbish where it belongs. Their trash is a signature that reads—‘tourists were here’
Two months earlier, Dubai created a five-year, multiple-entry tourist visa tailored to Indian visitors. South Africa’s simplified visa scheme will also start in 2025.
India's garment industry benefiting from Bangladesh crisis also caught international media's attention, as did rise of Indian tourists, driven by higher incomes & better flight options.
Indians see West Asia as one uninterrupted wash of Islam, but the reality is more complex. For the Druze, support from Israel—where they are a recognised minority—is now critical.
Mini deal will likely see no cut in 10% baseline tariff on Indian exports announced by Trump on 2 April, it is learnt, but additional 26% tariffs are set to be reduced.
India-Russia JV is also racing to deliver 7,000 more AK-203 assault rifles by 15 Aug. These are currently being made with 50% indigenisation and this will surge to 100% by 31 December.
Public, loud, upfront, filled with impropriety and high praise sometimes laced with insults. This is what we call Trumplomacy. But the larger objective is the same: American supremacy.
COMMENTS