October 2025 Current Affairs

Two railway links to offer easy connectivity to Bhutan

Centre announced two rail links with a total distance of 89 km between India and Bhutan at a cost of ₹4,033 crore -
- Kokrajhar-Gelephu (Assam) and
- Banarhat-Samtse (West Bengal).
Part of the first set of rail connectivity projects between India and Bhutan.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for these projects was signed in Bhutan by PM Modi on March 2024 and a formal agreement was signed here on the occasion of the Bhutanese Foreign Secretary’s visit to New Delhi.
The railway lines would be designed for running Vande Bharat trains.
The Government of India has pledged ₹10,000 crore in development assistance to Bhutan for its 13th Five-Year Plan running from 2024 to 2029. This funding doubles the support provided during the 12th Plan.

The two nations have also collaborated on five major hydropower projects — Chukha, Tala, Mangdechhu, Kurichhu, and the recently completed Punatsangchhu II.

Envoys raise ‘Russia question’ amid deepening India-EU ties

EU envoys questioning India’s participation in the recent ‘Zapad’ military exercises and Russian oil purchases and calling for “sensitivity” to European concerns over the conflict in Ukraine.
Concerns -
- European Union’s Ambassador to India, Herve Delphin, hailed improvements in India-EU ties, including trade, technology transfers and the strategic partnership, but called the “Russia question” an issue on which the two sides were not aligned.
- Other EU-member diplomats from Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Italy and the Czech Republic also raised concerns that the growing EU-India relationship could be affected by India’s engagement with Russia.
Rejecting the criticism, the Ministry of External Affairs had pointed out that NATO countries, including the U.S., Turkiye, and Hungary, which is an EU member, had participated as observers in Zapad-2025, while many European countries continued to buy Russian energy.