Homegrown Indian startup founders outperform returnee diaspora, finds study

This article first appeared in Business Standard on Feb 9, 2026

 A new study authored by AnnaLee Saxenian, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is renowned for her research on why Silicon Valley succeeded, and prominent tech entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa, pushes back on the idea that founders returning from the US and elsewhere are better equipped to build lasting businesses. Drawing on a sample of 596 Indian high-tech startups established between 2016 and 2023, their findings mark a departure from earlier work in the field, including their own. Read more on Business Standard 

India’s civilisational mission: Converting rhetoric on Buddhism into economic reality

This article first appeared in The Indian Express on May 1, 2026 On Buddha Purnima, India will once again invoke the Buddha as a teacher of compassion and peace. While that is fitting, it may not be sufficient. For a civilisation that holds Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar within its sacred geography, India still treats much of its Buddhist inheritance as a set of isolated stops rather than a single national mission. The Buddha was born in Lumbini, in present-day Nepal, but the defining arc of Buddhism, enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the first sermon at Sarnath, mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar and the flowering of monastic learning at Nalanda, belongs decisively to the Indian landscape. If India wants to speak seriously of civilisational leadership, our Buddhist heritage must move from rhetoric to areas of concrete action... Read more on The Indian Express

‘Global South no longer passive’: Finland’s Stubb says nations like India, Egypt and Brazil to decide ‘next world order’

This article first appeared in The Hindustan Times on April 28, 2026 Finland's President Alexander Stubb has stated that the next world order will be decided by the so-called "middle powers" in the Global South. During his visit to Egypt, the Finnish leader stated that countries such as India, Egypt, Brazil and others in the Global South can take agency and power in global politics.

Speaking at the American University in Cairo, the Finnish leader stated that the global landscape has been shaped by three main blocs: the Global West, the Global East, and the Global South.

Furthermore, quoting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Stubb added that the global order has changed with the emergence of middle powers in the Global South.

“Within that global South, you have what Carney calls middle powers, like India, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, that will decide what the next world order looks like. So, the whole balance of the world is being realigned,” said Stubb.

Read more on The Hindustan Times

India is central to the London success story

This article first appeared in The Hindustan Times on April 25, 2026

What Trump’s blockade says about American power

This article first appeared in The Times of India on April 21, 2026

Living with the Mughals: a legacy that endures despite erasure

This article first appeared in The Hindu on April 17, 2026

April 21, 2026 marks five centuries since the decisive Battle of Panipat which led to the founding of the Mughal empire in the Indian subcontinent. Memory, monument and everyday language carry forward a contested inheritance that refuses to fade.

On a hot, wind-swept April day 500 years ago, a tall, lean man and his army of 15,000 soldiers waited in battle formation on the dusty fields of Panipat, less than 100 km from Delhi. Facing them was the wary yet formidable force of Delhi Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, nearly 10 times larger, with 1,00,000 soldiers and 1,000 war elephants.