Pradeep Banerjee

Rising Seas, Rising Stakes: Why India Cannot Treat Sea-Level Rise as a Distant Problem The sea does not need to arrive as a giant wave to change a city. Sometimes the danger comes gradually—through higher tides, more frequent coastal flooding, saltwater entering freshwater systems and land that is slowly sinking. That makes rising sea levels one of the most difficult environmental risks to communicate because much of the damage develops quietly, long before it becomes a dramatic headline. A new United Nations report has put that risk into sharper focus. It warns that sea levels are rising faster than at any point in recorded history and that hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying coastal areas face growing risks to homes, infrastructure, livelihoods and basic services. For India, this is not simply an international climate story. It is already a coastal-development question. Why the numbers matter According to the UN, around 770 million people—roughly one in every ten people globally—live in coastal areas less than five metres above the high-tide line and are exposed to significant risks. The report says average ocean levels are rising because warming seawater expands while glaciers and ice sheets lose mass. In 2024, the

India–Bangladesh Relations: A Neighbourhood Story Built on History, Trade and Shared Rivers India and Bangladesh share one of South Asia’s most complicated relationships—and perhaps one of its most consequential. The two countries are neighbours separated by a border, but connected by much more than geography. Their relationship has been shaped by the history of the 1971 Liberation War, Bengali language and culture, cross-border rivers, trade, transport links, energy cooperation and millions of people whose lives are influenced by what happens on either side of the frontier. The interesting question today is not whether India and Bangladesh have differences. They clearly do. The more important question is whether the depth of their practical interdependence can continue to provide a foundation for cooperation despite political changes. A relationship larger than politics According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, India and Bangladesh share historical, cultural and linguistic ties and have developed cooperation across political and security matters, trade, development, connectivity, energy and people-to-people exchanges. That breadth matters because governments can change, but geography does not. Bangladesh occupies a strategically important position for India’s Northeast, while Bangladesh itself benefits from access to Indian markets, infrastructure and connectivity. The relationship therefore has a practical dimension

Nepal Floods: Hundreds of Children Still Missing as India Joins the Search for Hope A disaster can destroy a road, a bridge or a building in minutes. But when children disappear in that destruction, the meaning of the disaster becomes much larger. Ten days after the devastating flash floods that swept through Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, hundreds of families are still waiting for answers. Approximately 600 students remain unaccounted for in the districts of Rasuwa and Nuwakot, according to figures compiled by local education authorities, municipalities and educational institutions. Communication failures and damaged infrastructure are making verification particularly difficult. The tragedy began on August 26, when a powerful flash flood surged through northern and central Nepal. Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the disaster caused extensive destruction to homes, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities and other critical infrastructure in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and surrounding areas. Search and rescue operations were still continuing on September 4. When a school becomes part of the disaster story The most painful dimension of the crisis is unfolding around schools. Reports from Rasuwa and Nuwakot indicate that educational institutions were directly affected, with some schools completely destroyed and others rendered unusable. For children

When the Gulf Shakes, India Feels It: The Jobs, Money, Oil and Families Behind India’s Gulf Relationship A conflict thousands of kilometres away can begin with a headline about missiles, oil facilities or shipping routes. In India, its consequences can end somewhere much closer: in a family’s bank account, a petrol bill, a delayed flight—or a WhatsApp group waiting for one reassuring message from a relative abroad. That is the part of Middle Eastern geopolitics that is often missing from strategic analysis. For India, the Gulf is not simply a region of oil producers and geopolitical alliances. It is also a workplace, a source of remittances, an energy supplier, a trading partner and, for millions of families, the place where a son, daughter, husband, wife or parent lives and works. The Ministry of External Affairs’ January 2026 figures put the Indian population across the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries at approximately 9 million. The largest communities are in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. That makes the India-Gulf relationship unusually personal. The Gulf begins with jobs For generations, Indians have travelled to the Gulf in search of employment. The workforce is diverse. There are

Where Do Indians Live Around the World? The Countries With the Biggest Indian Communities For a country of more than a billion people, India has an interesting paradox. One of the world’s largest populations is also one of the world’s most geographically dispersed communities. From the Gulf to North America, from Britain and Australia to Southeast Asia and Africa, people with connections to India have built homes, businesses, careers and communities thousands of kilometres from the country their families once called home. And the map is much bigger than the familiar destinations of the Indian overseas population. The Indian presence stretches across the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Oman, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, South Africa, New Zealand and many other countries. This is not simply a story about migration. It is a story about how an Indian community became a global network. First, an important distinction: Who counts as an Indian abroad? This question sounds simple but isn’t. An Indian citizen living overseas is not necessarily the same thing as a person of Indian origin who holds another country’s citizenship. For example, someone born in India and working in Dubai may be an

UPI Is Going Global: What India’s Digital Payment Revolution Means for Indians Abroad For Indians travelling, working or living overseas, one of India’s most familiar digital habits is beginning to cross national borders. UPI is no longer only an Indian payment story. It is becoming part of a wider experiment in connecting India’s real-time payment infrastructure with other countries. The scale behind that ambition is enormous. In August 2026, India’s Unified Payments Interface processed 24.509 billion transactions, worth approximately ₹29.82 lakh crore, according to National Payments Corporation of India data. That works out to roughly ₹29.8 trillion in a single month. At the same time, UPI’s international footprint has expanded to 11 foreign countries for merchant acceptance and/or cross-border remittances. The Government of India says Cambodia, Greece and the Maldives joined the expanding international network during 2026. For Indians abroad, this could eventually mean something very practical: fewer payment headaches when travelling, easier transfers home and potentially lower friction when moving money across borders. But the phrase “UPI is global” needs a little unpacking. Eleven countries—but not eleven identical UPI experiences The headline number is impressive, but travellers should not interpret it as meaning that an Indian UPI app will

How India’s Diaspora Became a Worldwide Network of Capital, Talent and Ideas For decades, the easiest way to describe India’s diaspora was with a number: remittances. An Indian working in Dubai sent money home to Kerala. A software engineer in California helped pay for a family’s house in Hyderabad. A doctor in London supported parents in Punjab. A worker in Singapore financed education back home. The money mattered enormously. But it no longer tells the whole story. Today, India’s global diaspora is increasingly visible in boardrooms, laboratories, universities, startup ecosystems, government institutions, cultural organisations and philanthropic networks. The transformation is important because the diaspora is no longer simply a financial pipeline running from overseas workers to Indian households. It is becoming a global network connecting Indian talent, capital, knowledge and influence with the rest of the world. And, perhaps fittingly, the biggest export may not be money at all. It may be people and ideas. The money is still enormous Let us begin with the part nobody should underestimate. India remains the world’s largest recipient of remittances. World Bank data shows India received approximately US$137.7 billion in personal remittances in 2024. Its latest 2025 dataset records approximately US$150.7 billion. So

Germany and India in 2026: Why Nearly 70,000 Indian Students Are Choosing Europe’s Economic Powerhouse With 69,816 Indians enrolled at German universities, a more welcoming skilled-migration framework and new travel facilitation measures, the relationship is becoming a much larger story about education, employment and talent. There was a time when an Indian student saying “I am going abroad” usually meant one of a familiar group of countries. The United States. The United Kingdom. Canada. Australia. Germany was there, of course—but often somewhere further down the conversation. That is changing. The latest numbers from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) show that 69,816 Indian students were enrolled at German universities in the Winter Semester 2025/26. The number increased by 17.5% in one year, adding almost 10,400 students. Indians are now the largest international student group in Germany. That is not a niche trend anymore. It is a major education corridor. Why Germany? The attraction is partly financial. Many state-funded German universities generally do not charge tuition fees for Bachelor’s programmes, although students still face semester contributions, living expenses and, depending on the state and institution, other charges. For an Indian family comparing the enormous cost of studying in some traditional destinations,

India Is Growing Faster Than China, But.. For years, the comparison between India and China was almost painfully simple. China was bigger. China grew faster. China manufactured more. China exported more. China built infrastructure at a speed that often made the rest of the world look as if it were still waiting for the planning committee to find the stationery. In 2026, something important has changed. India is now growing faster than China. That is a genuine achievement. But it is also where the real economic story begins—not where it ends. Because there is a huge difference between growing faster and being richer. India has the growth-rate advantage Recent comparisons show that India’s economic growth has outpaced China’s over much of the current decade. India Today notes that India crossed China in growth rates from 2020 onward when looking at decadal performance. China’s economy, meanwhile, is going through a structural transition. The IMF’s July 2026 forecast puts China’s real GDP growth at 4.6% in 2026, following 5% growth in 2025. The IMF says China’s weaker domestic demand, demographic pressures and slowing productivity are among the challenges facing the economy. India’s current growth outlook remains substantially stronger, although estimates vary according

Indians in Canada: From Immigration Story to Economic and Cultural Powerhouse Today, that description is far too small. From doctors and technology professionals to entrepreneurs, students, researchers and business leaders, the Indian community has become deeply woven into Canada’s economic and social landscape. And the relationship is evolving again. The latest evidence suggests that the India–Canada connection is no longer simply about Indians moving to Canada. It is increasingly about businesses moving capital, companies creating jobs, professionals transferring skills and two economies building commercial links around one of the world’s largest Indian-origin communities. That is a considerably bigger story. How large is the Indian community? The Global Indian estimates that the Indian-origin population in Canada is approaching 2 million in 2026. But the number needs some careful explanation. The latest official Canadian census counted 1.347 million people reporting Indian ethnic or cultural origin in 2021, representing 3.7% of the population measured in that census table. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada counted 2.57 million South Asians, or 7.1% of Canada’s population. The Canadian government now describes the community more broadly as more than 1.8 million Canadians of Indian origin. So the safest conclusion is not to argue about whether the number is exactly