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At least 18 people died during a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital late Saturday when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world’s largest religious gathering, officials and reports said.The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters — including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another stampede at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.The rush at the train station in New Delhi appeared to break out Saturday as crowds struggled to board trains for the ongoing event, which will end on February 26.”I can confirm 15 deaths at the hospital. They don’t have any open injury. Most (likely died from) hypoxia or maybe some blunt injury but that would only be confirmed after an autopsy,” Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi told AFP.”There are also 11 others who are injured. Most of them are stable and have orthopaedic injuries,” she said.Broadcaster NDTV reported three more dead from the stampede quoting an official of another hospital in the city.Those dead were mostly women and children.”I have been working as a coolie since 1981, but I never saw a crowd like this before,” the Times of India newspaper quoted a porter at the railway station as saying.”People started colliding and fell on the escalator and stairs” when platform for a special train departing for Prayagraj was suddenly shifted, the porter said.Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a “high-level inquiry” had been ordered into the causes of the accident.Vaishnaw said additional special trains were being run from New Delhi to clear the rush of devotees. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distressed” by the stampede.”My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery,” he wrote on X.The governor of the capital territory Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena said disaster management personnel had been told to deploy and “all hospitals are in readiness to address related exigencies.”  The six-week Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and officials said around 500 million devotees have already visited the festival since it began last month.More than 400 people died after they were trampled or drowned on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally.Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in Prayagraj.

With Coldplay and Ed Sheeran among the superstars who have played to packed-out crowds in India recently, there is increasing talk that the world’s most populous nation could soon become a mainstay of the global touring schedule.However, a lack of world-class venues to host big-name events has left fans wanting, with complaints ranging from filthy conditions, poor security and technical problems among the issues causing headaches for organisers.Booming demand from young affluent Indians looking to splurge on new entertainment experiences are drawing international acts as well as hugely popular homegrown stars.Big-name stars have in the past overlooked the country, given the historically low spending power of its consumers.But while per capita income remains low at $2,500, investment bankers Goldman Sachs estimate that the number of Indians with annual earnings of more than $10,000 has jumped from 24 million in 2015 to 60 million in 2023.That has helped attract the sort of talent unthought of just a decade ago, with Dua Lipa playing to packed crowds last year and US chart-toppers Maroon 5 playing their first gig in the country.Robin Hood crooner Bryan Adams played a number of sold-out venues across country in 2024, while other artists like Green Day and Shawn Mendes will perform later this year.”A decade ago, India was not on their radar,” said Deepak Choudhary, event management entrepeneur and founder of EVA Live.”It’s a hungry audience sitting across the country,” he said, adding that he believes India’s music event industry is on track to catch up with markets such as Britain, Japan or Germany within three to five years.”You give them good content and they are happy to explore.”The number of live events in India rose almost a fifth last year, according to the country’s largest ticketing platform BookMyShow, which called music tourism a “defining trend”.- ‘Biggest-ever show’ -Coldplay last month performed what the band called its “biggest-ever show”, at a huge cricket stadium named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad.Their tour prompted a wild scramble for tickets, which were priced from around $30-$420.”As soon as they announced the concert dates, I booked my flight ticket, I booked my stay because I wanted to get there first,” said Monica Sawant, 36, who travelled fromBengaluru to see them in Mumbai.But demand was so high she was forced to purchase from ticket touts.”I caved in… I thought I would not make it,” she explained, paying $125 for a $55 ticket.After the Coldplay show, Modi praised what he dubbed the “concert economy”, saying “India has a massive scope for live concerts”.However, not all cities have the infrastructure needed to host massive live events, with BookMyShow’s CEO Ashish Hemrajani likening the experience economy boom in an interview to “starting an airline but not having an airport”. Fans complain that makeshift venues can have poor sanitation, non-existent crowd-control measures and terrible traffic to reach the venue with little parking space.”It was awful,” said Ruchi Shukla, 27, describing her experience at a show last year in Gurgaon, a satellite city of New Delhi.”You had to fight to get into the venue, fight to get out, and even during the concert you had to fight to hear the singer.”Other performers ranging from Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh to South African comedian Trevor Noah have publicly complained about Indian venuesNoah in 2023 performed to sellout crowds in New Delhi and Mumbai, but scrapped shows in tech-capital Bengaluru as the audience could not hear him.In January, US band Cigarettes After Sex also cancelled a concert in Bengaluru owing to “technical difficulties” blamed on “local production”.- ‘Teething issues’ -Avid concert-goer Sheldon Aranjo grabbed public attention in December by writing a public post after wetting himself at a Bryan Adams show, saying there was a lack of toilets.”We are bringing international acts, we are paying on par with people abroad,” he told AFP. “Why can’t I expect an international quality event?”But organisers such as Tej Brar, who oversees one of India’s biggest music festivals, NH7, said they were “teething issues”.”These are just growing pains, as we come into our own as an industry,” Brar said.And EVA Live’s Choudhary was confident success will bring investment and help India “move past infrastructure challenges”.Economists at Bank of Baroda estimate the spate of shows could translate into annual spending of up to $918 million, as organisers pump money into local economies and consumers shell out on everything from hotels to flights.It is a bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy.”We are opening a door for something that is new,” said Bank of Baroda economist Jahnavi Prabhakar.”This is a big boost, something like we’ve never seen before. It’s a big boom for us.”

Pace bowler Will O’Rourke claimed four wickets while Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham hit half centuries as New Zealand defeated Pakistan by five wickets to clinch the tri-nations series final on Friday.O’Rourke’s 4-43 helped the tourists dismiss Pakistan for 242 in 49.3 overs before Mitchell’s 58-ball 57 anchored the chase as the Black Caps finished on 243-5 in 45.2 overs at Karachi’s National stadium.The victory gives the New Zealanders a timely boost ahead of the Champions Trophy opener against the same opponents at this venue on Wednesday.New Zealand lost opener Will Young in pacer Naseem Shah’s first over for five before Devon Conway (48) and Kane Williamson (34) steadied the chase with a second wicket stand of 71.Williamson lost his wicket while charging down the wicket against spinner Salman Agha while Naseem returned for his second spell to dismiss Conway.At 108-3 the tourists’ chase wobbled but Mitchell found an able ally in Latham (56) as the two added 87 for the fourth wicket.When Mitchell fell caught and bowled off spinner Abrar Ahmed the tourists needed just 48 runs which Latham and Glenn Phillips (20 not out) reduced to ten.Mitchell hit six boundaries in his knock while Latham’s 64-ball innings featured five fours.Naseem was the pick of an otherwise ineffective Pakistan bowling attack with 2-43 off eight overs. Earlier, spinners Mitchell Santner (2-20) and Michael Bracewell (2-38) backed up O’Rourke to ensure Pakistan did not post a big total.Skipper Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a 76-ball 46, while Salman Agha hit 45 off 65 balls as slow and variable bounce on the National stadium pitch proved tough for batting.Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman to O’Rourke in the fourth over for 10 and then Saud Shakeel for eight.Babar Azam looked good for his 29 runs, hitting four boundaries and a six, and reached 6,000 runs scored in one-day internationals when he was on 10.He was playing his 123rd innings, the joint fastest to reach the 6,000-run milestone with South African Hashim Amla.Azam fell to a miscued shot off Nathan Smith, leaving Pakistan struggling at 54-3.Rizwan and Agha, who shared a match-winning 260-run partnership against South Africa on Wednesday, then revived the innings with an 88-run stand.Rizwan hit four boundaries and a six but he and Agha fell within 19 runs of each other to end any hope of a challenging total.Tayyab Tahir hit a 33-ball 38, also with four boundaries and a six, while Faheem Ashraf (22) and Naseem (19) added 39 invaluable runs to get Pakistan past 240.Brief scores:Pakistan 242 all out in 49.3 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 46, Salman Agha 45; W. O’Rourke 4-43) v New Zealand 243-5 in 45.2 overs (D. Mitchell 57, T. Latham 56; Naseem Shah 2-43)Result: New Zealand won by five wicketsToss: Pakistan

Lancashire hope their new Indian Premier League partners can help the English cricket county’s Hundred franchise rival football giants Manchester United and Manchester City in “the UK’s number one sporting city”.RPSG Group, the owners of Lucknow Super Giants, have agreed to pay around £80 million ($101 million) for a 70 percent share in Manchester Originals.It is one of several lucrative deals across the eight Hundred franchises that are set to bring in more than £520 million into English domestic cricket — including an immediate £25 million for Lancashire.The Hundred has proved controversial, with many county cricket fans angry at the way the tournament deprives their side of key players at the height of the season.The terms of the RPSG deal are yet to be finalised, but Lancashire chief executive Daniel Gidney said he is excited about the potential impact of the new investment at the Old Trafford club, just down the road from United’s ground of the same name.”We’ve talked about Manchester being probably the UK’s number one sporting city,” Gidney said on Friday. “Manchester is a global sporting capital… a powerhouse. “We want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third-biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two sports teams in Manchester (United and City).- Big ambitions -“That is the scale and level of the ambition of both of us as partners…. This is something that is incredibly exciting for us and that is why we wanted to partner with an IPL team and we always have done. “You’ve got a 1.4 billion population of people (in India) who adore cricket. Why wouldn’t we want to inject a bit of that energy and passion into Manchester and Lancashire?”Shashwat Goenka, vice-chairman of RPSG, admitted his group had initially wanted a stake in the Lord’s-based London Spirit side before losing out to a mammoth bid from a Silicon Valley consortium, which offered a reported £145 million for a 49 percent stake.He said he was glad to have joined forces with Lancashire instead.”While we did bid aggressively for Lord’s, we stopped at a point and I’m extremely happy with Manchester,” he said via a video link from Kolkata. “We are very excited with this investment. It’s going to be a formidable partnership,” “From a cricketing standpoint, it is one of the only sports in the world that has the kind of viewership that it does globally across race, caste, culture, religion, any of that. Manchester is a global sporting hub… one of the top five sporting cities across the world.”England opening batsman Phil Salt, who plays for Lancashire and the Originals and also has IPL experience, said the new cash injection could make the Hundred become world cricket’s premier franchise competition.”At the inception of the IPL, I suppose their ambition was to bring the world’s best tournament that we’ve ever seen and that’s exactly what they’ve done,” he said. “We sit here today knowing full well that our ambition is to bring the world’s best cricket to Manchester.”

New Zealand pace bowler Will O’Rourke took four wickets to restrict Pakistan to a modest 242 runs in the tri-series final in Karachi on Friday.O’Rourke finished with 4-43 and was ably supported by spinners Mitchell Santner (2-20) and Michael Bracewell (2-38) as Pakistan were dismissed in 49.3 overs after they won the toss and batted.Skipper Mohammad Rizwan top-scored with a 76-ball 46, while Salman Agha hit 45 off 65 balls, with slow and variable bounce on the National stadium pitch proving tough for batting.The final is a dress rehearsal for the opening match of the Champions Trophy between the same teams at the same venue on Wednesday.Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman to O’Rourke in the fourth over for 10 and then Saud Shakeel for eight.Babar Azam looked good for his 29 runs, hitting four boundaries and a six, and reached 6,000 runs scored in one-day internationals when he was on 10.He was playing his 123rd innings, the joint fastest to reach the 6,000-runs milestone with South African Hashim Amla.Azam fell to a miscued shot off Nathan Smith, leaving Pakistan struggling at 54-3.Rizwan and Agha, who shared a match-winning 260-run partnership against South Africa on Wednesday, then revived the innings with an 88-run stand.Rizwan hit four boundaries and a six but he and Agha fell within 19 runs of each other to end any hope of a big total.Tayyab Tahir hit a 33-ball 38, also with four boundaries and a six, while Faheem Ashraf (22) and Naseem Shah (19) added 39 invaluable runs to get Pakistan past 240.

Prize money for the eight-nation Champions Trophy starting in Pakistan next week has been increased by 53 percent, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Friday.Besides an impressive trophy, the winning side will earn a whopping $2.24 million, an ICC statement said, while the runners-up will receive $1.12 million.”The total prize pool has increased by an impressive 53 percent from the 2017 edition, reaching $6.9 million,” the ICC said.”The substantial prize pot underscores the ICC’s ongoing commitment to investing in the sport and maintaining the global prestige of our events.”Each losing semi-finalist will take home $560,000, teams finishing in fifth or sixth place will receive $350,000, and the seventh and eighth-placed sides take home $140,000.Last place is worth $125,000 — and a win in the group stages is worth around $34,000The February 19 to March 9 tournament marks the first time Pakistan hosts an ICC event in three decades, although some matches will be played in the United Arab Emirates as India is refusing to play on its neighbour’s soil.

Bangladeshi high schooler Laiba is being educated for the future, but what she learns has been determined by the latest chapter in her country’s battle over its past. Last year, a student-led revolution overthrew the government of iron-fisted premier Sheikh Hasina when public anger over her increasingly autocratic rule boiled over.Her ouster has prompted Bangladesh to do something that has followed every sudden change in national leadership: rewrite its history books to suit new orthodoxies.”The tradition of altering history must stop at some point — the sooner, the better,” Laiba’s mother Suraiya Akhtar Jahan told AFP. “Textbooks should not change every time a new government takes office.”Radical changes to the school curriculum are routine in Bangladesh, where febrile political divisions dating back to its ruinous 1971 independence war against Pakistan have persisted. Until this year, textbooks gave special exaltation to the country’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for spearheading that liberation struggle.But Mujib, assassinated in 1975 in a military coup, is also Hasina’s father, and his daughter’s disgrace and exile has dented the late leader’s stature. “The books had turned into one side’s political manifesto,” AKM Riazul Hassan, head of the national agency tasked with reforming the curriculum, told AFP. “That does not conform to the purpose of textbooks. We tried to get them back on track.”New history books have expunged dozens of poems, speeches and articles penned by Mujib, alongside images of his daughter.They instead now valorise the hundreds of people killed in the protests that ultimately toppled Hasina last summer, while bringing back from exile other previously erased heroes of Bangladesh’s early history.Among them is former army chief Ziaur Rahman — no relation to Mujib — credited with issuing the first public proclamation of Bangladesh’s independence during the 1971 war.Zia had been left out of the curriculum during Hasina’s time because he founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), her chief opposition. His return to the page augurs the resurgence of the political force he created, which is strongly favoured to win elections expected by next year.- ‘Endless cycle’ -While the overhaul of Bangladesh’s official history gives clues as to the country’s future direction, critics say the new curriculum has its own litany of omissions. Of particular contention is one of the country’s darkest chapters — the murderous purge of its intellectual elite in the final days of the 1971 war. Bangladesh’s main Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, which at the time opposed the country’s independence, helped orchestrate these killings in concert with Pakistani forces. Revised textbooks mention that militia groups were responsible for the murders, without mentioning that the militias were run by Jamaat. The omission is significant because Jamaat — another party suppressed by Hasina’s government — is likely to be a major force in Bangladesh’s next parliament, and has governed in the past in coalition with the BNP.Dhaka University professor Mujibur Rahman — no relation to the independence leader — told AFP that the apparently deliberate attempt to obscure details around the purge raised questions about the reasons behind the changes.”The real question is whether this interim government wants students to learn the actual history,” he added. Asked about the changes, Hassan said that the textbook commission he helms did not want to trap the nation’s youth “in an endless cycle of hatred”.”At some point, we need to start reconciliation,” he added. “Should we make our textbooks flooded with hatred? How rational would it be?”- ‘Minimise their anxiety’ -Other signs suggest the new textbooks have conceded several changes to hardline religious sentiment in the Muslim-majority nation. Hasina’s government, for all its other shortcomings on rights issues, was lauded for championing the rights of Bangladesh’s transgender community.The new textbooks excise references to transgender Bangladeshis, a demand long held by Islamist groups. Hassan acknowledged that the decision had been taken following objections from a Muslim group campaigning against representations of transgender issues in the curriculum. “We took their concerns into account,” he said, “and made adjustments accordingly to minimise their anxiety.”

At a scam compound in Myanmar, Filipina worker Pieta had just days to romance strangers online and trick them into investing in a fake business — failing which she would be beaten or tortured with electric shocks.Pieta was one of 260 people — many visibly injured or bruised — rescued from an illicit centre along the Myanmar border this week and handed over to Thailand, following a series of crackdowns on the illegal operations.Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar’s borderlands and are staffed by foreigners, sometimes trafficked and forced to work, swindling people around the world in an industry analysts say is worth billions of dollars.Pieta, a pseudonym to protect her identity, thought she was accepting a job in Thailand that paid $1,500 a month when she left the Philippines six months ago.Instead, she was forced to work gruelling shifts for no pay at the compound in Kyauk Khet, a village in Myanmar’s Karen state, scamming people in Europe and living in constant fear of punishment.”If we didn’t reach the target, we were beaten up… (or given) electric shocks,” she told AFP from a holding centre in Phop Phra, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Thailand’s Mae Sot after the rescuees were taken by boat across a small border river on Wednesday.”I’m just going to cry. Oh my God. I’m so happy… that I left that place,” she said, adding that enforced squats — sometimes up to 1,000 — were also meted out as punishment. The 260 foreign nationals — among thousands allegedly lured into the notorious cyberscam centres with promises of high-paying jobs before they are effectively held hostage — came from over a dozen countries including Ethiopia, Brazil and Nepal.- Signs of physical abuse -AFP spoke to some of them under the condition of anonymity. Many bore signs of physical abuse, including one woman who had huge bruises on her left arm and thigh and said she had been electrocuted. Liu, one of 10 Chinese nationals rescued, described gory methods his Chinese bosses inflicted as punishment.He told AFP that he saw one worker having his face rubbed into a metal grate on the floor until he bled to death — a claim AFP is unable to verify.”So many were beaten to death, it was so bloody,” he said.Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years, including the Philippines, where police this week rescued 34 Indonesians from a Manila compound.Chinese supervisors there had allegedly stripped them of their passports and said they would be moved to a new site in Cambodia against their will.Gilberto Cruz, of the Philippines’ anti-organised crime commission, told AFP Friday that about 21,000 Chinese nationals who had worked for now-banned offshore gaming centres continued to operate smaller-scale scam operations in the country.Thai officials said the Kyauk Khet centre is also run by Chinese nationals and first appeared on the other side of the Moei River in 2019, although it is still under construction.None of the returnees — exhausted and overwhelmed — told how they travelled, or were trafficked into the compound.Other victims in the past have said that after arriving in Thailand, they were whisked across the border and forced to commit online fraud.But Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, a senior police official, told local news outlet The Standard on Friday that in many instances, victims come to work in the centres voluntarily. – Escape attempt -“The majority are aware of what to expect, although some are deceived while still in their countries of origin,” he said.For those who come out of choice, it is unlikely they fully understand the horror awaiting them.Kokeb from Ethiopia said he and his fellow were workers were forced to toil for 17 to 18 hours a day, and many had their phones confiscated to prevent escape.Still, two other Kenyans — who said they had been forced to defraud internet users in “rich countries” such as the United States — staged an escape with several others days before the handover, and were caught by a local militia. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) which controls the Kyauk Khet area — where the compound is located — claimed responsibility for extracting the workers.General Saw Shwe Wah, DKBA’s second commander-in-chief said on Wednesday he was “relieved to have safely handed them over” to Thai authorities.They and another Myanmar military group have said they will be releasing thousands more scam centre workers into Thailand in the coming weeks. The returnees told how thousands were still being held in Kyauk Khet, but they are overjoyed to finally be returning home.Liu left behind his wife in his hometown in Yunnan province when she was pregnant with his second child.”I can’t wait to see my children,” he said.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday offered to sell state-of-the-art fighter jets to India as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to ramp up trade, rekindling a bond that defies the new US administration’s punitive approach to much of the world.Modi, only the fourth world leader to visit the White House since Trump’s return, described the fellow nationalist as a friend and told him he was adopting a take on his “Make America Great Again” slogan.Trump said that he found a “special bond” with Modi and India and, in an uncharacteristic if ironic show of humility, complimented Modi as being a “much tougher negotiator” than he is.Successive US administrations have seen India as a key partner with like-minded interests in the face of a rising China, and Trump announced that the new administration was ready to sell one of the top US military prizes — F-35s.”Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi.”We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump said.India would join an elite club of countries that include NATO allies, Israel and Japan that would be allowed to buy the F-35, which can operate without detection at supersonic speeds.India currently relies on an ageing fleet of Russian fighter jets as well as a small number of French-made Rafale aircraft.India’s arch rival and neighbour, Pakistan, however said it was “deeply concerned” about the sales. “Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability. They remain unhelpful in achieving the objectives of durable peace in the region,” said Shafqat Ali Khan, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.- Dangling tariffs -Continuing a push from his predecessor Joe Biden, Trump said that the two countries also planned investment in ports, railways and underseas cable to “build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history,” running from India to Israel to Europe and beyond.Trump has dueled with both friends and foes on economic issues. Hours before meeting, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on all countries, including India.Speaking next to Modi, Trump called India’s “unfair, very strong tariffs” a “big problem” but said that the two countries would hold negotiations to close a trade deficit in India’s favor.Modi said that the world’s largest and fifth-largest economies would work on a “mutually beneficial trade agreement” to be sealed “very soon,” with a focus on oil and gas.Joining Trump’s meeting with Modi was SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, who has launched an aggressive effort as Trump’s right-hand man to overhaul the US bureaucracy.Modi also met one-on-one with Musk, raising questions over whether the world’s richest man was meeting the Indian leader in an official or business capacity.The Indian premier posted pictures of himself shaking hands with the beaming Musk, with several children on Musk’s side of the room, and Indian officials on the other.- Courting Trump -Modi offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles — a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic US manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Trump.India has already accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown. The treatment drew protests from India’s opposition which accused Modi of sacrificing the dignity of citizens to please Trump.Trump in turn announced the United States would extradite to India a suspect in the bloody 2008 siege of Mumbai, whom he called “one of the very evil people in the world.” Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin who was based in Chicago, was convicted in 2011 and later sentenced to 13 years in prison.Modi and Trump share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote majority communities over minorities and both doggedly quashing dissent.In 2020, Modi delighted Trump by inviting him before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.Trump could visit India later this year for a summit of the Quad — a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.burs-dk-sct/bfm/stu

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a whistle-stop diplomatic tour Friday having secured significant pledges of support from Washington and Paris to help step up his country’s nuclear energy programme. New Delhi has vowed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 partly by increasing the number of nuclear plants in the country from eight, which currently account for around three percent of power generation in India.Modi’s White House meeting with President Donald Trump resulted in an agreement to build US-designed nuclear reactors in India.”This path forward will unlock plans to build large US-designed reactors and enable collaboration to develop, deploy and scale up nuclear power generation with advanced small modular reactors,” a joint statement said Thursday. India revealed a similar deal with France following Modi’s meeting with President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Wednesday that India and France aimed to initiate cooperation on developing small modular nuclear reactors, nothing that the technology was still in its “initial stages”.”Our intent is to be able to cooperate in co-designing the reactors, co-developing them, and co-producing them,” he told reporters.Both partnerships come days after Modi’s government announced plans to amend its strict nuclear liability law, which holds operators liable for any damage or accident, with exceptions made for certain situations including natural disasters.Despite the nuclear tilt, fossil fuels remain very much on the agenda with New Delhi saying it was working towards establishing the United States as its “leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquified natural gas”. The plan is “in line with the growing needs and priorities of our dynamic economies”, India said. Misri said India purchased “about $15 billion in U.S. energy output” and that there was a “good chance” that the figure could go up to as much as $25 billion in the near future.Earlier this year, India also greenlit a $1.9 billion plan to help snap up supplies of a range of critical minerals vital for the country’s green energy and defence sectors.