Morning Digest: White House releases India-U.S. joint statement on interim trade deal; India rejects Pakistan’s allegations over blast at Islamabad mosque, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on February 7, 2026

The White House on ​Friday (February 6, 2026) released a Joint Statement by the U.S. and India on a framework for ‌an interim trade agreement between the two countries that they said affirms their commitment to negotiations towards a broader bilateral trade deal launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025. “India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products,” the statement said.

India on Friday (February 7, 2026) categorically rejected Pakistan’s allegations of an Indian link to the bombing at a mosque in Islamabad that killed at least 31 people. The Ministry of External Affairs said: “The bombing at an Islamabad mosque earlier today is condemnable and India condoles the loss of life it has caused. It is unfortunate that, instead of seriously addressing the problems plaguing its social fabric, Pakistan should choose to delude itself by blaming others for its home-grown ills. India rejects any and every such allegation, which is as baseless as it is pointless.”

The death toll in Thursday’s (February 5, 2026) explosion in an illegal rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district rose to 25 on Friday (February 6, 2026). Police and personnel of disaster response forces had recovered 18 bodies from the disaster site in the Mynsyngat Thangsko area on Thursday. The spot is about 25 km from the district headquarters, Khliehriat, and takes about three hours to reach in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Independent Bihar MP Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, was arrested by Patna Police late Friday (February 6, 2026) from his residence in Patna in connection with a case dating back to 1995, officials said. High drama unfolded at Mr. Yadav’s house in Mandiri locality when a police team arrived to execute a warrant issued by an MP/MLA court in the case registered under section 467 (forgery of documents) of the Indian Penal Code.

Thirty-nine-year-old Arpita Banerjee, a resident of Baranagar in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, has been battling multiple health problems since childhood, exacerbated by neurological disorders. Born in November 1987, Ms. Banerjee had been on the earlier 2025 voter list and was included in the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) draft electoral rolls published in December last year. Soon after, however, she received a notice to attend a hearing over a “logical discrepancy” arising from a mismatch in the spelling of the surname “Banerjee” in her and her father’s records.

The government on Friday (February 6, 2026) told Parliament that it has completely paid up its commitment of $120 million for Chabahar port, well before the U.S. sanctions waiver runs out in April 2026. Iran’s Ambassador to India, however, said that the government has not so far conveyed its plans for the future of the port, even as Opposition MP Manish Tewari accused the government of acting prematurely to “opt out” of the port deal.