Mumbai, April 27: Amazon Publishing has announced a global deal for the next six books by best-selling author Chetan Bhagat, whose previous books were published by Rupa publications.

The deal includes three fiction and three nonfiction titles. Amazon Publishing will publish these books globally in print, eBook and audio formats, with the first title out in October 2018. The title or any other details about the first book are yet to be disclosed. 

According to Amazon, all the books are planned to also be available in multiple Indian language translation versions. Westland, an Amazon company, will distribute the print editions in India.

"Amazon Publishing is excited to work with Chetan and publish his books to a wider audience including readers both in India and abroad," said Jeff Belle, Vice President, Amazon Publishing. 

"Millions of readers have enjoyed Chetan's work for over a decade. His books deftly weave together the everyday life of youngsters with the prevalent social milieu of our time," he added. 

Bhagat expressed his delight over the deal for his upcoming books. 

"Amazon's online advantage and their commitment to reach every corner of India ties in well with my goals of inspiring every Indian read books. Further, Amazon's global reach, especially with Kindle eBooks, will give me readers worldwide. Ever since my books were made available on Kindle, I get emails from readers in places like Africa and Europe, something that did not happen earlier. 

"My new fiction novel is scheduled for release during the festive season in October 2018. While I will reveal details later, I am very excited about it. It will be my first book in both eBook and print formats with Amazon Publishing and it will be something different from what I have done before," he said. 

Amazon acquired Westland Publications Pvt Ltd, a leading trade books publisher, in January 2017. Westland is the official distributor of Amazon Publishing titles in India and works with India's top book distributors, book retail chains, independent book retailers and online marketplaces. 

Bhagat arrived in the Indian literary space with a bang and has so far published nine blockbuster books. These include seven novels -- "Five Point Someone" (2004), "One Night @ the Call Center" (2005), "The 3 Mistakes of My Life" (2008), "2 States" (2009), "Revolution 2020" (2011), "Half Girlfriend" (2014) and "One Indian Girl" (2016) and two non-fiction titles -- "What Young India Wants" (2012) and "Making India Awesome"(2015).

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New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone and discussed the "serious situation" in West Asia.

Modi expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the region and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure.

The prime minister told the Iranian President that the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with the need for unhindered transit of goods and energy, remain India's top priorities.

“Had a conversation with Iranian President, Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss the serious situation in the region. Expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure,” Modi said in a post on X.

The prime minister also reiterated India's commitment to peace and stability and urged dialogue and diplomacy to end the crisis.

The prime minister had spoken to leaders of several West Asian countries in the last 10 days in the wake of the coordinated offensive launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, in which the Islamic country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed last month.

In retaliation, Iran has fired drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf region, including the global business and aviation hubs of Dubai and Doha.

Modi earlier spoke to the leaders of Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Israel and Qatar, and expressed concern over the attacks on their countries, and condemned the violation of some nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He also discussed the welfare and security of the Indian community residing in those countries.

Around 1 crore Indians live in the Gulf and West Asia. While about 10,000 Indian citizens live, study and work in Iran, more than 40,000 live in Israel.