内容摘要："The US is the largest export market for the whole region. Definitely," he tells me. "They are the biggest in volume and the biggest in value."

"The US is the largest export market for the whole region. Definitely," he tells me. "They are the biggest in volume and the biggest in value."

India's growth engine remains heavily dependent on the government's infrastructure spending on roads, ports and highways, in the absence of significant improvement in private investment.Going forward, domestic growth should benefit from government's income tax cuts announced in the federal budget, as well as "monetary easing, expectations of an above normal monsoon and lower food inflation", Aditi Nayar, an economist with the ratings agency Icra, said.

But ongoing global uncertainties, including US President Donald Trump's trade war, are expected to weigh on export demand.India is currently negotiating a trade-agreement with the United States which is officially expected to conclude by fall. Trump slapped tariffs of up to 27% on Indian goods in April – and a 90-day pause on these ends on 9 July.Economists expect GDP growth in the ongoing financial year 2025-26 to further slow to 6% on the back of these global slowdown worries which could delay new private capital spending on projects.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects global growth to drop to 2.8% in 2025 and 3% in 2026.Data from Icra earlier showed private sector expenditure, as part of overall investments in India's economy, fell to a 10-year low of 33% in the last financial year.

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) into India – at $0.35bn in 2024-25 – also fell to the lowest level in two decades, as rising outward foreign investment and repatriations by Indian companies, neutralised inward investment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been attempting to position India as a manufacturing hub for global companies."Obviously it went viral on there, and a lot of people, you know obviously liked it, and commenting on it and all that, saying how fantastic they were."

When Edna Nicole Luckett sings the Blues on the stage at Red's, her voice, deep and soulful, echoes against the walls. The juke joint in Clarksdale, Mississippi is one of the last of its kind in the region, a landmark for a bygone era of American music."I was raised in Delta dirt, sunshine and flatland that goes on for miles and miles," she sings, as people nod their heads and stomp their feet to the beat.

Ms Luckett, like many who were raised in the Mississippi Delta, grew up listening to locally-crafted Blues music and singing in her church choir. It's experiences like hers - and places like Red's - that are getting a fresh moment to shine with the box office success of Ryan Coogler's film Sinners.The genre-defying film has earned more than $300 million (£22 million) globally, against a $90m (£67m) budget, and attracted the world's attention to a historic small town.