India's billion-plus population went into a three-week lockdown on Wednesday, with a third of the world now under orders to stay indoors, as US politicians agreed to spend $2trn to counter the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The President of the United States Donald Trump failed on Tuesday to strike a trade deal with India at the end of his two-day visit, which was big on photo opportunities but short on substance and overshadowed by deadly riots. Speaking at the end of a short tour that saw him hold hands at the Taj Mahal with First Lady Melania and address a huge rally, Trump said only that they had made "tremendous progress" towards an accord - a statement later repeated by White House's press service.

Hundreds of protests have broken out in Indian-administered Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the region of its autonomy and imposed a military clampdown more than three weeks ago, a senior government official has told the AFP news agency.

The Indian government on Monday revoked Kashmir's special status, stripping the significant autonomy it has enjoyed for seven decades in a move expected to further inflame tensions in the Muslim-majority region and infuriate rival Pakistan.

Indians are voting in the third phase of the general elections with campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party and the opposition marred by bitter accusations and acrimony. The voting for 117 parliamentary seats in 13 states and two Union Territories on Tuesday means polls are half done for 543 seats in the lower house of Parliament.

Under the order of President Donald Trump, the US will scrap the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey, news wires reported on Monday. The US trade chief's office said in a statement that Washington “intends to terminate India's and Turkey's designations as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria”. Under this programme, certain products can enter the US duty-free if countries meet eligibility criteria including “providing the US with equitable and reasonable market access”.

India and Pakistan emerged at the bring of a full-fledged war as last Wednesday they both claimed they shot down each other's fighter jets, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan territory for the first time since 1971 war, news wires reported. Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history, prompting world powers to urge restraint.

The European Union and India are "fully committed" to secure free trade agreement with discussions being currently on between the two sides, EU official says. The negotiations for the much-delayed pact, officially called the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have been held up since May 2013, but have also witnessed many hurdles.