“Yeh bhi koi tareeka hai bheek maangne ka?” – Is this how one begs? India mocks Pakistan as the latter shares a post seeking more international loans.
India has mocked the Government of Pakistan after it appealed to international partners for additional loans amid its ongoing conflict with India. In a statement issued on the social media platform X, Pakistan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs made the appeal, citing heavy losses allegedly inflicted by India. However, Pakistan later claimed that the X handle had been hacked. Responding to Pakistan's original post, India’s Press Information Bureau shared a popular film meme that read: “Yeh koi tareeka hai bheekh maangne ka?” — which translates to “Is this how one begs?”
More on the impact of the India-Pakistan conflict — On Thursday, a day after India’s attack on nine terror sites in Pakistan, the country’s stock market was forced to halt operations mid-session. This came after Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index tanked nine percent, marking its worst fall since 2008. The index has seen some recovery since then, at the time of writing. Back home, Indian equities also witnessed sharp cuts in Friday’s session. The Sensex slipped nearly 1,000 points in early trade, and the Nifty breached the 24,000 mark. India’s volatility index, which measures near-term market volatility expectations, spiked sharply on Friday.
Shifting focus — After three years of negotiations, India and the United Kingdom signed a Free Trade Agreement on the 6th of May. Under this FTA, products such as British whisky, chocolate, cosmetics, and aerospace parts will become cheaper for Indian consumers, as tariffs are reduced or removed. British carmakers will also benefit, with India lowering car duties from over 100% to just 10% under a quota. Meanwhile, Indian professionals in IT, healthcare, and other sectors may find it easier to get UK work permits, with new visa slots expected each year.
More on the trade front — Several American products are also likely to become cheaper in India soon. A CNBC-TV18 report, quoting sources, says that India has proposed to drop tariffs to zero on most American imports, barring four exceptions. The report came just days after US President Donald Trump claimed India had agreed to eliminate tariffs. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit the US later this month to advance bilateral trade talks.
And while India’s trade agreement with the US is still in the pipeline, the United Kingdom has signed a limited trade deal with the Trump administration. Under this deal, the US will retain the baseline 10 percent tariffs on most British products, but there is some relief for the UK — US auto tariffs will drop from 27.5 percent to 10 percent on a quota of 100,000 vehicles. Tariffs on steel and aluminium will also fall from 25 percent to zero.
That’s all the time we have on this edition of the Hook Business News Wrap. Log on to hook.online for the top stories from the world of business.
