India should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a top official at a
government think tank said on Thursday, years after the country decided to walk out of the China-backed Asian trade bloc. The RCEP is the world's largest trade bloc backed by China and groups 15 Asia-Pacific economies, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the 10 member-states of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).In 2019, India decided to not join the bloc, on the grounds that the deal would hurt its farmers, businesses, workers and consumers.

India and Japan see increased collaboration and engagement on the fronts of
science, technology and innovation at the universities levels as the two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) observed that the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and
Japan is a milestone moment in the relations of the two countries, based on the special strategic and global partnership of the India-Japan cooperative
relationship.

Malaysia Airlines plans to fly to more non-metro cities in India as well as increase the frequency of flights to Ahmedabad and Trivandrum, a senior airline official said on Friday.The carrier, part of the Malaysia
Aviation Group (MAG), currently connects nine Indian cities with Kuala Lumpur and operates 71 weekly flights to India.Dersenish
Aresandiran, Chief Commercial Officer of Airline Business at MAG,
said Malaysia Airlines plans to increase frequencies to Ahmedabad and Trivandrum. The airline also plans to operate to more non-metro cities in India where there are no restrictions due to bilateral flying rights, he told PTI on the sidelines of a briefing here.

India and Japan have agreed to promote financial cooperation and strengthen
bilateral relations at the second India-Japan Finance Dialogue in Tokyo, a finance ministry statement said. The participants exchanged their views on the macroeconomic situation in both countries. "They discussed cooperation in third countries, bilateral cooperation, and international issues. The participants also shared views on financial sector issues, including regulation and supervision, financial digitalisation, as well as other policy initiatives in both countries," it said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indonesia’s central bank on Thursday signed an agreement in Mumbai to promote cross-border local currency transactions. It is India’s second such local currency trade agreement after the UAE RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and Perry Warjiyo, governor of Bank
Indonesia (BI), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for
“establishing a framework for cooperation in the area of cross-border transactions in local currencies between India and Indonesia”, said
RBI in a statement. The agreement “aims to promote the use of INR
(Indian Rupee) and IDR (Indonesian Rupiah) bilaterally