VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world's biggest weapons importer in 2014, a year when global defense trade rose for the sixth straight year to a record $64.4 billion, research company IHS said on Sunday.

China's defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets.

Global equities pulled back from recent record highs on Wednesday, with investors turning cautious after underwhelming euro zone PMI data and ahead of central bank meetings.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit.

India may slash its food and fuel subsidy bill by about $8 billion in next week's budget, two sources said, but despite the impressive headline, the cut is not as radical as free market champions had hoped for in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first full budget.

Israel's defense minister arrived in India on Wednesday to help sell his country's arms industry to the world's largest defense importer and promote deepening military ties between the two nations.

The coming week will go a long way to dictating whether Greece remains in the euro zone. A meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday is tasked with producing a deal that will keep Greece solvent and which is acceptable to both sides.

A global deal to curb carbon emissions must recognize each country's right to develop, France's foreign minister said in New Delhi on Thursday, as the host of this year's U.N. climate change talks seeks to win India's backing for a global deal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China before his first anniversary in government on May 26, the foreign ministry said on Monday, in the latest symbolic move by the nationalist leader to cement India's ties with the world's major powers.

U.S. President Barack Obama ended a landmark day in India on Monday with a pledge of $4 billion in investments and loans, seeking to release what he called the "untapped potential" of a business and strategic partnership between the world's largest democracies.

New world trade talks had to level the playing field between developed and developing economies on farm support and avoid being held hostage by countries unwilling to open markets, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an opinion piece to be published on Thursday.

When Sri Lanka unexpectedly turfed out President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an election this month, it was the biggest setback in decades for China's expansion into South Asia - and a remarkable diplomatic victory for India.

China's Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL] plans to invest in Indian tech start-ups and overseas media content, as the world's No.3 smartphone maker looks to dominate homes with its own TVs and appliances.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised on Sunday to pursue predictable policies and ensure stable taxes, in a speech that sought to address concerns for foreign investors in Asia's third-largest economy.

Solar power firm SunEdison (SUNE.N) and Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises plan to invest up to $4 billion in what would be one of India's largest solar panel makers, a boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he hosts an investment summit.