India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“The agreement on critical minerals and rare earths [is] a major step towards building resilient supply chains,” Modi said.

Brazil has the world’s second-largest reserves of critical minerals, which are used in everything from electric vehicles, solar panels and smartphones to jet engines and guided missiles.

India, seeking to cut its dependence on top exporter China, has been expanding domestic production and recycling while scouting for new suppliers.

“Increasing investments and cooperation in matters of renewable energies and critical minerals is at the core of the pioneering agreement that we have signed today,” Lula said.

The details of the deal were not immediately available.

Nine other agreements and memoranda of understanding were finalised on Saturday, the foreign ministry’s spokesman said, touching on digital cooperation, health, entrepreneurship and other fields.

“Brazil is India’s largest trade partner in Latin America. We are committed to taking our bilateral trade beyond $20 billion in the coming five years,” Modi said.

“Our trade is not just a figure, but a reflection of trust.”

Lula, who arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence, is accompanied by a delegation of more than a dozen ministers as well as business leaders.

On Saturday, he was given a ceremonial welcome and paid his tributes to India’s independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, before going into the meeting with Modi.

With China holding a near-monopoly on rare earths production, some countries are seeking alternative sources.

Rishabh Jain, an expert with the Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water think tank, said India’s growing cooperation with Brazil on critical minerals complements recent supply chain engagements with the United States, France and the European Union.

While these partnerships grant India access to advanced technologies, finance and high-end processing capabilities, “Global South alliances are critical for securing diversified, on-ground resource access and shaping emerging rules of global trade”, Jain told AFP.

‘New momentum’

India, the world’s most populous nation, is the 10th largest market for Brazilian exports, with bilateral trade topping $15 billion in 2025.

Key Brazilian exports to India include sugar, crude oil, vegetable oils, cotton and iron ore.

Demand for iron ore has been driven by rapid infrastructure expansion and industrial growth in India, which is on track to become the world’s fourth-largest economy.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he was confident that Lula’s talks with Modi “will impart a new momentum to our ties”.

Modi said that “our cooperation in the defence sector is also continuously growing,” hailing a “win-win partnership”.

“When India and Brazil work together, the voice of Global South becomes stronger and more confident.”

Brazilian firms are also expanding in the country, with Embraer and Adani Group announcing plans last month to build aircraft in India.

Lula addressed the AI Impact summit in Delhi on Thursday, calling for a multilateral and inclusive global governance framework for artificial intelligence.

He will travel on to South Korea for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.

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Microsoft on Friday put out word that Xbox stalwart Phil Spencer is retiring, in a shakeup of leadership at the tech titan’s video game unit.

Former Instacart chief operating officer Asha Sharma will take over as head of Microsoft Gaming, with Matt Booty becoming executive vice president and chief content officer.

“As we celebrate Xbox’s 25th year, the opportunity and innovation agenda in front of us is expansive,” Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a message to employees.

“I am long on gaming and its role at the centre of our consumer ambition.”

Changes to the gaming team include Sarah Bond leaving her job as Xbox president “to begin a new chapter” away from Microsoft, according to the company. Booty was previously president of game content and studios at Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn page.

The shakeup comes as cloud computing and artificial intelligence have become priorities at Microsoft, driving revenue growth but also massive spending on infrastructure to power the technology.

“When I walked through Microsoft’s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I’d help build, the players and customers we’d serve or the extraordinary teams I’d be lucky enough to join,” Spencer said in a message to colleagues.

“It’s been an epic ride and truly the privilege of a lifetime.”

Spencer headed the Xbox unit for 12 of his 38 years at Microsoft, nearly tripling the size of the business as video games evolved from packaged software for consoles to subscription services and digital downloads on an array of devices.

Spencer also guided the Xbox team through acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft.

Xbox boasts more than 500 million monthly users and a vast stable of game studios, along with a subscription gaming service.

“We are witnessing the reinvention of play,” Sharma said in a blog post announcing the leadership changes.

“To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters and worlds that people love.”

Sharma said she would renew focus on the Xbox console, aiming to “recommit to our core Xbox fans and players”.

Microsoft Gaming has been grappling with tariff-induced cost pressures, strong competition and uncertain consumer spending, prompting price rises on Xbox hardware.

Last month, Microsoft reported that its gaming revenue fell around 9.5 per cent in the December quarter, and it recorded undisclosed impairment charges in the division.

Microsoft had closed its $69 billion deal for “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard in 2023, swelling its heft in the video-gaming market after heavy regulatory scrutiny.

The company’s gaming unit contends with robust competition from Sony’s PlayStation, particularly regarding console market share and exclusive game offerings.

“Microsoft’s leadership transition is appropriate as it comes at a time when the technology underlying gaming is shifting. As AI becomes a bigger element in game development, Microsoft needs a new generation of leaders to manage through this transition,” said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria.

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ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose 5.19 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Feb 19, reflecting higher retail prices of perishable food items and energy products in the domestic market.

The SPI-based inflation has now increased for 29 consecutive weeks, underscoring persistent pressure on household budgets. The continued upward movement has largely been driven by a sharp rise in the prices of vegetables and other perishables, as well as higher electricity and petrol rates. On a week-on-week basis, the SPI edged up by 1.16pc from the previous week, official data showed on Friday.

The increase was attributed mainly to stronger demand for essential food items during the month of Ramazan, which traditionally leads to higher consumption and short-term price pressures.

The latest figures suggest that food and energy remain the principal contributors to inflationary trends, with perishable goods particularly sensitive to supply constraints and seasonal demand patterns.

SPI rises 5.19pc year-on-year, driven by higher food and energy prices

An extraordinary surge in the retail prices of sugar and meat has also played a decisive role in reversing the easing trend witnessed in recent weeks. Meat prices, in particular, have been climbing steadily, adding further strain on household budgets already under pressure from elevated food and energy costs.

Weekly inflation had earlier reached a historic high of 48.35 per cent YoY in early May 2023. It subsequently moderated in the following years. The latest movement in sugar, edible oil, pulses, and meat prices suggests that volatility in essential food commodities continues to shape short-term inflation trends, with consumers facing recurring cycles of price spikes.

The items, whose prices increased the most over the previous week included bananas (16.05pc), electricity charges for Q1 (15.41pc), garlic (5.86pc), chicken (5.49pc), onions (3.83pc), tomatoes (3.82pc), diesel (2.69pc), petrol (1.93pc), beef (1.03pc), LPG (0.75pc), mutton (0.69pc) and long cloth (0.28pc).

The items whose prices saw a decline week-on-week included eggs (11.78pc), potatoes (2.24pc), wheat flour (2.02pc), pulse masoor (1.47pc), sugar (0.96pc), vegetable ghee 2.5Kg (0.72pc), pulse gram (0.58pc), cooking oil 5 litre (0.19pc), gur (0.16pc), vegetable ghee 1kg (0.11pc), rice IRRI-6/9 (0.08pc) and mustard oil (0.07pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items whose prices increased the most tomatoes (85.20pc), wheat flour (31.33pc), gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), electricity charges for Q1 (17.33pc), bananas (15.83pc), chilies powder (15.20pc), beef (13.28pc), LPG (12.22pc), firewood (11.40pc), powdered milk (9.89pc), shirting (9.11pc), mutton (8.77pc) and gur (8.63pc).

In contrast, the prices of potatoes dropped 45.43pc, followed by garlic (27.51pc), pulse gram (23.30pc), chicken (19.36pc), onions (18.10pc), Lipton tea (13.95pc), salt powder (12.52pc), pulse masoor (12.33pc), eggs (8.54pc), pulse mash (5.08pc), mustard oil (2.13pc), sugar (1.43pc) and pulse moong (1.40pc).

The index, comprising 51 items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed weekly to assess the prices of essential commodities and services at shorter intervals. Data showed that the prices of 17 items increased, 12 decreased, and 22 remained stable compared to the previous week.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026

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