Pradeep Banerjee

What the Numbers and Arabian Sea Collision Reveal The question has returned to the headlines after an unusual incident in the Arabian Sea: Can the Indian Navy defeat the Pakistan Navy? The immediate trigger is not a war. It is a collision. On the evening of 15 September 2026, an Indian Navy frontline warship and the Pakistani naval vessel PNS Hunain collided in the northern Arabian Sea. India subsequently summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires and lodged a formal protest. Pakistan, in turn, also protested, giving a different account of the incident and describing the Indian ship’s manoeuvres as provocative. The incident did not become a naval battle. But it has revived the larger question of comparative naval power. And here the answer requires considerably more nuance than an internet AI summary saying that India is “vastly stronger” and could “easily” win. India Has a Clear Numerical Advantage There is little controversy over the broad direction of the numbers. The exact fleet totals differ between open-source databases because researchers classify patrol craft, auxiliaries, support vessels and operational status differently. Global Firepower’s 2026 comparison lists: Naval capability India Pakistan Fleet strength 343 120 Aircraft carriers 2 0 Submarines 18 8 Destroyers 13 0

Indians in Australia 2026: A Growing Community Living Between Opportunity and Reality Good universities. A strong economy. Professional opportunities. A multicultural society. A large Indian community. And, for many migrants, the possibility of building a long-term life in a country very different from India. But the Australia of 2026 is not the Australia of five or ten years ago. Migration is becoming more selective. Housing is expensive. Competition for desirable jobs is real. Student visas are being scrutinised more closely. And the Indian community itself has become so large that newcomers increasingly arrive not in an unfamiliar country, but in a place where someone is probably already selling samosas within walking distance. That combination of opportunity and pressure defines much of the Indian experience in Australia today. India has become Australia’s largest overseas birthplace The scale of the community is remarkable. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, at 30 June 2025 there were 971,020 people born in India living in Australia. India narrowly overtook England to become Australia’s largest overseas country of birth for the first time. England had 970,950 residents, while China was third with 732,000. (abs.gov.au) The figure is particularly striking because India’s Australia-born population has grown