CURRENT AFFAIRS

US President Donald Trump announced a sharp reduction in tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18%, claiming that India has agreed to stop buying Russian crude oil and instead increase purchases from the US and Venezuela. While India welcomed the trade deal, it has not confirmed any commitment to halt Russian oil imports, signalling that energy security remains its top priority.

The expiry of the New START Treaty marks the end of nearly five decades of legally binding nuclear arms control between the United States and Russia. With no successor agreement in place, global concerns have intensified over strategic instability, reduced transparency, and the risk of a renewed nuclear arms race among major powers.

Gold prices have surged past the $5,000 per ounce mark for the first time, even as the US dollar slid to a four-month low. The rally is being driven not only by households but by aggressive buying from central banks worldwide.

India has chosen, for now, to stay away from US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace, unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adopting a cautious “wait and watch” approach despite an invitation extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India has recently welcomed Spain’s decision to join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), marking the expansion of this India-led maritime cooperation framework and reinforcing growing international engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will commemorate its 80th anniversary with a special event on 23 January 2026, marking eight decades of its role as the UN’s principal body for coordinating global economic, social, humanitarian, and development cooperation.

The U.S. President Donald Trump has invited India to join the proposed Board of Peace for Gaza, a new governance and conflict-management mechanism.

Reports suggesting the possibility of a U.S. military takeover or acquisition of Greenland have triggered global concern, as such a move could undermine international law, fracture NATO unity, alarm allies, and hand strategic advantage to rival powers in the Arctic.

In recent years, the Arctic region has become an emerging center of global geopolitics. While melting ice due to climate change is providing new trade routes and resources, it has also intensified competition between superpowers. In this context, US President Donald Trump's intervention in Greenland and claims of Sino-Russian influence over Greenland reflect international concern about China's role in the Arctic.

Recently, particularly in the context of Venezuela, unilateral military actions by the United States have reignited global debates about violations of international law and the weakening of the UN-led multilateral order.