The Indian government has made a major cut in the aid given to Bangladesh in the Union Budget 2026-27. This year only Rs 60 crore has been kept for Bangladesh, whereas last year Rs 120 crore was given. This decision has been taken at a time when there is tension in the relations between India and Bangladesh. The reason for this is the violence against minorities, especially the Hindu community, in Bangladesh and the change in its foreign policy. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in 2024, Bangladesh has started strengthening relations with Pakistan. Apart from Bangladesh, Maldives will get Rs 550 crore, but it is less than last year. Rs 300 crore has been kept for Myanmar, which is less than before. In this budget, India has kept Rs 2,288.55 crore for Bhutan, which is about Rs 138 crore more than last year. India has kept Rs 225 crore for African countries, Rs 120 crore for Latin American countries and Rs 38 crore for Eurasian countries in the budget. However, it is not clear how much money will be given to which country in these regions. The total budget of the Ministry of External Affairs is more than Rs 22 thousand crores. The Government of India has kept the total budget of the Ministry of External Affairs for 2026–27 at about Rs 22,118 crores. This includes both the expenses of running the office and money for other important works. This amount is slightly more than last year. Under the Ministry of External Affairs, money is also spent on secretariat, embassies and missions abroad, passport and immigration related works. The government will spend about Rs 9,500 crore on all this. Apart from this, India also provides financial assistance to other countries. For this, Rs 5,685.56 crore has been kept in the budget for 2026–27. This amount is approximately Rs 100 crore less than last year. Last year i.e. in 2025–26, Rs 5,785.40 crore was kept for this item. India said – We are keeping an eye on the situation of minorities in Bangladesh. The Ministry of External Affairs told the Rajya Sabha on January 29 that the Government of India is constantly keeping an eye on the news of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. Their homes, shops, properties and places of worship have been targeted in these attacks. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that India has many times raised the issue of security of minorities with the Bangladesh government at political and diplomatic levels. He also informed that PM Modi had raised this issue during his meeting with Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus on April 4, 2025. The Ministry of External Affairs criticized the interim government of Bangladesh, saying that attacks on minorities are often explained away as personal rivalry or political differences. According to the ministry, this emboldens those who commit crimes and increases fear and insecurity among minorities. Bangladesh is strengthening relations with Pakistan. Meanwhile, the current government of Bangladesh is engaged in strengthening relations with Pakistan. This is considered a major change, as serious atrocities took place during the separation of Bangladesh in 1971. Direct cargo ships are running between the two countries and direct flights are also going to start soon. Pakistani airlines Fly Jinnah and Air Sial have received approval for these flights. Recently, an aircraft from Dhaka reached Karachi, resuming direct air service between the two countries after 14 years. Amidst these incidents, relations between India and Bangladesh have continued to deteriorate since 2024. No funds for Chabahar Port Project: The Government of India has not kept any money this time for Iran’s Chabahar Port Project in the Union Budget 2026-27, news agency PTI has given this information. Whereas every year India has been giving around Rs 100 crore for this project. Chabahar Port is in the Sistan-Baluchistan region of Iran and India has played an important role in its development. This decision has been taken at a time when America has imposed new and strict sanctions on Iran. On January 13, US President Donald Trump had warned on social media that an additional tax of up to 25% could be imposed on any country that does business with Iran. Since then, India is also considering other options regarding the Chabahar Port project. In September last year, America had imposed strict economic sanctions on Iran. Although India was given a special exemption of six months for the Chabahar Port project, this exemption is going to end on April 26. India strengthens relations through foreign aid. India has been providing economic assistance to its surrounding countries for a long time. Its objective is to maintain political influence in its region and keep essential economic relationships strong. Now this policy has become an important part of India’s foreign policy. The situation in the world is no longer the same as before, where only rich and powerful countries used to take decisions. Now the role of the Global South i.e. developing countries is increasing and powerful countries like India are increasing their influence through mutual partnership and investment. When neighboring countries become stronger, both India’s security and trade benefit. The money given by India is invested in roads, electricity, schools, hospitals, ports and other development projects. This improves the economy of these countries and Indian companies also get opportunities to work there. India sometimes also helps for humanitarian reasons, such as during natural disasters, economic crises or health crises. This creates India’s image in the world as a responsible and helpful country. Know India’s 2026-27 budget plan… Defense budget: increased by 15%, 22% more expenditure on modernization of forces. In the first budget after Operation Sindoor, Sitharaman talked about geo-politics and challenges and increased the country’s defense budget from ₹ 6.81 lakh crore to ₹ 7.85 lakh crore. That means the total defense budget has increased by 15.2%. The special thing about the defense budget is that this year ₹ 2.19 lakh crore will be spent on arms purchase and modernization as compared to ₹ 1.80 lakh crore last year. This is a straight 22% increase in capital spending. ₹64 thousand crore has been given for aircraft and aero engine development and ₹25 thousand crore has been given for naval fleet. ₹1.71 lakh crore has been set aside for pension. ————- Also read this news… Budget 2026 – Income tax remains as it is: Now just file the revised return by 31st March instead of 31st December, now 2% tax on sending money abroad. There was no major announcement regarding income tax in the budget. However, the date for filing revised returns was extended from December 31 to March 31. At the same time, sending money abroad will now attract 2% tax instead of 5%. Read the full news…
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