The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN-backed agency, has launched the 'AI for Good Global Commission' in Geneva, Switzerland, to strengthen global AI governance, inclusion, and innovation frameworks.
The commission comprises 44 founding members and is co-chaired by Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Salesforce Chair and CEO Marc Benioff. India is represented on the commission by 3 founding members: Mukesh Ambani (CMD of Reliance Industries), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Ltd), and Lakshmi N Mittal (Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal SA).
China has launched its latest oceanographic satellite, 'Haiyang (HY)-2E', aboard a Long March 4B rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in Northwest China.
This marks the 47th space mission of China in 2026 and the 654th flight of the Long March rocket series.
Jaime Abelardo, supported by the 'Defenders of the Homeland' alliance, has won the presidential runoff election in Colombia. He will serve as the President for the 2026-2030 term, succeeding Gustavo Petro.
The inaugural India–Mali Forum for the Promotion of Exports was held in Bamako, Mali, under the theme 'Reinforcing Trade and Strategic Partnerships.'
It is to be noted that bilateral trade between India and Mali surpassed $326.6 million in FY26, marking a 55% year-on-year growth compared to the previous fiscal period.
PM Narendra Modi visited Seychelles at the invitation of President Dr. Patrick Herminie and held a bilateral meeting in Victoria, Mahe. He attended the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the National Day of Seychelles as the Guest of Honour, marking 50 years of independence of the nation.
During the visit, PM Modi was conferred with the honorary "Guardian of the Blue Horizon" title, the highest distinction of Seychelles. Both countries signed 9 MoUs to strengthen bilateral relations. India extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of ₹1,250 crore for development projects and handed over a Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named 'LESPWAR'.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal visited London ahead of the official implementation of the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Double Contribution Convention (DCC), which are scheduled to come into force on July 15, 2026.
During the visit, he held a high-level bilateral meeting with Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade of the UK. Piyush Goyal was conferred with the 'Special award for Exceptional Leadership in Elevating India-UK Relations'.
He also launched the 'UK-India CETA Business Utilisation Manual', a guide for Indian and UK businesses, and announced the deployment of 1,000 advisory personnel across India to assist businesses in maximizing the benefits of the India-UK CETA.
The 2nd Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington DC, USA. During the summit, 35 nations, including India, endorsed a Statement on AI, an initiative spearheaded by the USA to establish trusted and resilient supply chains for AI technologies.
The 2-day event was hosted by Jacob Helberg, Secretary of Economic Affairs at the US Department of State. The Indian delegation was headed by S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The summit marked the expansion of the US-anchored tech security ecosystem, with new signatories including Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands (Europe); Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama (America); and Kazakhstan (Central Asia).
The 16th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) National Security Advisers' (NSA) meeting was held in New Delhi.
The meeting was chaired by the National Security Advisor (NSA) of India, Ajit Doval. The summit was conducted under the theme 'Non-Traditional Security Challenges Confronting the World Today'.
Abiy Ahmed, the leader of the Prosperity Party, has been elected as the PM of Ethiopia for the second consecutive 5-year term, after the party's victory at the general election. It is to be noted that he was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.
Bangladesh has officially joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) as its 27th member country. The partnership aims to enhance joint conservation strategies, habitat protection, and transboundary wildlife management.
PM Narendra Modi has visited Slovakia and was honoured with 'The Order of the White Double Cross (1st Class),' the highest national award of the country, by President Peter Pellegrini. This marks the 33rd global honour for the PM.
Both countries have elevated their bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership (CP). PM Modi and his counterpart Robert Fico formalized 11 agreements focusing on strategic cooperation, innovation, and technology.
Both nations agreed to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter-Terrorism to enhance security and launch a Consular Dialogue mechanism. They also announced the establishment of the first-ever Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Chair in AI at the Technical University of Kosice in Slovakia.
France hosted the 52nd G7 Summit under the theme "Working Together to Address Major International Challenges". PM Narendra Modi represented India at the summit.
Key outcomes of the summit included the adoption of the "Leaders' Declaration on Tackling Migrant Smuggling" to curb human trafficking and the unveiling of the "Declaration on Critical Minerals Supply Chains".
Japanese PM Takaichi introduced the "Partnership On Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia)", which aims to provide nearly USD 10 billion in financial assistance to strengthen energy and critical minerals supply chains. It is to be noted that the 53rd edition of the G7 Summit is scheduled to be hosted by the USA.
Indian jurist Bimal N Patel has been elected as a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026-2035 term. He will assume office on October 2026, succeeding Neeru Chadha.
PM Narendra Modi has visited France to strengthen the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership, focusing on trade, technology, and security. He held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Nice and participated in the 52nd G7 Outreach Summit as a guest partner.
PM Modi and President Macron co-launched the 'Bharat Innovates' initiative in Nice, featuring participation from over 120 Indian startups. At the VivaTech 2026 expo in Paris, the largest technology exhibition in Europe, India was designated as the 'AI Country of Focus'.
The visit resulted in 13 key outcomes, including the adoption of the 'India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030', the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on AI Governance, and the expansion of the UPI in France. PM Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora during the 'Bonjour Modi' event held in Paris.
Uzbekistan has become the 10th member and shareholder of the New Development Bank (NDB) after ratifying the NDB Articles of Agreement (AoA). This marks the first entry of a Central Asian nation into the NDB.
India has secured the Vice-Presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the first time since becoming a full member in 2010. Vivek Aggarwal has been elected as the Vice President for a one-year tenure commencing in July 2026, succeeding Giles Thomson.
It is to be noted that the FATF is a 40-member intergovernmental body that establishes global standards to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Delcy Eloina Gomez, the Acting President of Venezuela, has visited India to strengthen bilateral energy cooperation. She held bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
She also met Union Minister S Jaishankar and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. She visited the Jamnagar oil refinery in Gujarat, owned by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which is the world’s largest single-point oil refining facility.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has chaired the 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Held under India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship, this was the first-ever BRICS agricultural summit to include both Member and Partner Countries.
The BRICS Agriculture Working Group identified 4 priorities: Food Security and Nutrition (focusing on smallholder farmers, women, and youth), Agricultural Trade, Regenerative Farming (promoting climate-resilient practices), and Investment and Innovation.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the ‘Indore Declaration’, which emphasises a farmer-centric global food system and rejects unilateral trade restrictions that threaten food security.
To implement the declaration, the member nations established 5 institutional networks: the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture (coordinated by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram), Network on Digital Agriculture (coordinated by the IIT Delhi), BRICS Agro-Inputs, Genetic Resources, and Information Network (BRICS AGRIN Framework), Knowledge-to-Action Hub (by strengthening the BRICS Agricultural Research Platform (BARP)), and the Global Forum on Farmers' Rights in Seed Systems.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Han Seong-sook as the next Prime Minister (PM) of the country. Upon parliamentary approval, she will succeed Kim Min-seok.
It is to be noted that she will become the second woman to serve as the PM in the history of South Korea, following Han Myeong-sook.
