Keeping Humanity at the Centre of the AI Revolution, Ethics, Dignity, and the Future of Intelligence
At the peak of human history, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution stands out as a transformative moment, harnessing the infinite potential of science and innovation in the service of humankind. The endless possibilities of AI in every sphere of human activity and its empowering potential to deal with the unprecedented challenges of our times is a tribute to mankind’s collective ingenuity that validates the boast of accomplishments of which “even the gods might be envious.” The automating of tedious tasks involving repetitive work and freeing time for leisure, expanding access to essential services, breakthroughs in medicine, ensuring longevity and better healthcare including cancer screening and prediction of terminal illnesses, robotic nursing of the sick, a more effective targeting of economic aid to the marginalised, enhanced accessibility of education and knowledge to all, and its vast contribution to environmental sustainability in several ways including disaster management and weather forecasting are some of the crowning contributions of AI toward a more inclusive development agenda.
Even so, questions about the future of human society and the “destiny of intelligence” are most vigorously debated by philosophers, scientists, statesmen, and the technology czars, some of whom have pleaded for a pause in the further development and deployment of AI that could hijack our idea of humanity. The claims of the AI protagonists about the “amazing abundance” of goods and services and the caution against slowing down of scientific progress through regulation must contend with the compelling questions about the necessity of ethical guardrails warranted by humanitarian considerations and emotions embedded in the deepest recesses of our being through a cultural evolution spanning the millennia. The question of who we are, and whether we are ready for a new narrative of humanity in which functional efficiency and promised material abundance prevail over the yearnings of the human soul and the dignity of emotion, is an unavoidable and larger inquiry that has resisted the seduction of technological wonders. This is particularly important given that AI is able to replicate, and in some cases even outperform, cognitive skills, including the ability to understand human emotions and intuition.
Are we ready for an endless technological disruption and a “global epidemic of stress” caused by a prolonged volatility in the job market? AI’s promise must be guided by ethics, dignity, and accountability, and we must consider the fate of a predicted “useless” class of millions caused by an unmanageable stress in coping with the effects of technological disruption. Whether we have new social and economic models that protect individual self-worth and ensure for all a life of belonging and emotional well-being are larger philosophical questions arising from a humanist perspective founded on the sacrosanctity of the values we carry as a badge of humanity. The passionate proponents of AI themselves have cautioned against “summoning the devil without a kill switch.” This must awaken us to the urgency of serious reflection on how to preserve “the hidden realm of the mind from which emotions emerge, from which inspiration flows, from which our desires pulse—the subjective part of the human spirit that makes each of us ineluctably who we are.”
Data privacy vulnerabilities, proliferation of misinformation, electoral manipulations, the possibility of super-intelligent weapons systems going rogue, AI-enabled phishing campaigns, and surveillance and censorship are some of the ominous portents that can cause social upheavals without effective global regulation. Preserving the digital sovereignty of nation-states remains a challenge, given that control over data is intrinsically linked to national security and the strategic autonomy of nations. The establishment of a global regulatory regime that respects national sovereignty and ensures effective enforcement can no longer be postponed.
The world of AI that could rewrite the code of humanity, therefore, needs a moral vision that can harmonise technological advancement with the preconditions of a virtuous and happy society. Terry Eagleton’s caution in relation to a sense of seductive self-assurance is eloquent: “An inflated self-belief can earn its calamitous comeuppance, which caused the ancient Greeks to shudder and look fearfully to the skies.” Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset reminded us that “we live at a time when man believes himself fabulously capable of creation, but he does not know what to create. Lord of all things, he is not Lord of himself. He feels lost amid his own abundance. With more means at its disposal, more knowledge, more technique than ever, it turns out that the world today goes the same way as the worst of worlds that have been; it simply drifts.”
The encyclical letter of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV on “Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” clinches the moral debate on the humanist dilemmas in relation to AI. Recognising that technology is not antagonistic to humanity, the Pope has stressed the duty to remain “profoundly human” in an era of AI when “human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization.” Emphasising the need to establish standards of ethical discernment based on the dignity of the individual, His Holiness has warned against the “illusion” of “self-assertion” and cautioned against progress that exacerbates inequalities and is incapable of healing peoples’ wounds. He has called for a rejection of the “idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences and the pretense that a single language—even a digital one—can translate everything, including the mystery of the person into data and performance.” These assertions by the Pontiff are moral injunctions in a world that needed a reminder of the “splendour and grandeur of humanity” beyond its creations and of the limitations of AI in terms of its “affective, relational or spiritual capabilities.”
Thus viewed in the framework of core human values anchored in the dignity of man, global leaders are expected to opt for a “humanist-centric” approach in the deployment and regulation of AI for the larger good of humanity with the individual at the centre of their decisions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed at both the VivaTech 2026 conference in Paris (June 2026) and the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi (February 2026) that such an approach would require a robust and enforceable regulatory framework, rather than voluntary and non-binding commitments, to govern the use of AI. Such a framework could democratise access to frontier AI and help build a shared, trustworthy AI ecosystem in an age that “levels everything and reverses nothing.” How nations deal with this epochal challenge will define the quality of political leadership and our commitment to inclusive democracy anchored in equality and human dignity as the ultimate civilisational aspiration.
Questions and Answers
Q1: What are some of the key contributions of AI to human progress mentioned in the article?
A1: Key contributions include automating tedious tasks, freeing time for leisure, expanding access to essential services, breakthroughs in medicine (cancer screening, prediction of terminal illnesses), robotic nursing, more effective economic aid targeting, enhanced accessibility of education, and contributions to environmental sustainability (disaster management, weather forecasting).
Q2: Why have some proponents of AI called for a pause in its development?
A2: Some proponents have warned against “summoning the devil without a kill switch,” concerned that AI could hijack our idea of humanity. They argue that AI’s replication and potential outperformance of human cognitive skills, including understanding emotions, requires serious reflection on preserving the “hidden realm of the mind” and the subjective human spirit.
Q3: What are the major risks associated with unchecked AI development?
A3: Major risks include data privacy vulnerabilities, proliferation of misinformation, electoral manipulation, super-intelligent weapons systems going rogue, AI-enabled phishing campaigns, surveillance, and censorship. These can cause social upheavals without effective global regulation.
Q4: What is Pope Leo XIV’s perspective on AI and human dignity?
A4: Pope Leo XIV stressed the duty to remain “profoundly human” in the era of AI and warned against progress that exacerbates inequalities. He called for rejection of the “idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak” and cautioned that AI cannot translate the “mystery of the person” into data. He emphasized the limitations of AI’s affective, relational, and spiritual capabilities.
Q5: What regulatory approach has Prime Minister Modi advocated for AI governance?
A5: Prime Minister Modi has advocated for a “humanist-centric” approach requiring a robust and enforceable regulatory framework, rather than voluntary and non-binding commitments. Such a framework could democratise access to frontier AI and help build a shared, trustworthy AI ecosystem while preserving human dignity.
India’s Shipbuilding Ambitions Can Set Sail with Korea: A Strategic Partnership for the High Seas
India is embarking on an ambitious journey to reclaim its maritime legacy, and it has found a seasoned navigator in South Korea. In April 2026, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to India marked a turning point, reviving high-level political interaction and paving the way for a transformative partnership in the shipbuilding industry . This collaboration, formalised under the comprehensive ‘VOYAGES’ framework, is not merely about building ships; it is about building a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem that could propel India into the top tier of global shipbuilding nations .
Seoul Plugs into India’s Shipbuilding Drive
The partnership has moved quickly from diplomatic dialogue to industrial execution. During President Lee’s visit, a slew of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed, showcasing South Korea’s strategic commitment . The big three of the Korean shipbuilding industry—Samsung Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), and Hanwha Ocean—have already announced their investment plans or partnerships in India .
The most concrete outcome is the tripartite MoU signed on April 20 for the development of India’s first mega greenfield shipyard at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu . The agreement was signed between HD KSOE, the National Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Park, Tamil Nadu Limited (NSHIP-TN), and Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL). This project, with an envisaged annual capacity of 2.5 million gross tons, is expected to generate approximately 15,000 direct jobs and catalyse the development of a comprehensive maritime industrial ecosystem . The Thoothukudi shipyard is one of the earliest implementation outcomes of the VOYAGES framework, reflecting the growing strategic partnership between the two countries in the maritime domain .
Beyond the mega shipyard, the partnership aims to build a robust ancillary industry. The Korea Marine Equipment Association (KOMEA), which comprises 304 enterprises across ship design, shipbuilding, and marine equipment, has opened an office in Mumbai to foster a shipbuilding cluster and ancillary industries in India . This is expected to pave the way for a comprehensive industrial ecosystem, moving India from a shipbuilder to a shipbuilding nation .
A Proven Pathway and the Long Voyage Ahead
The partnership is designed to provide India with the technology, design expertise, and production know-how needed to scale up its industry and become more competitive internationally . The framework also focuses on workforce development, with projects to train Indian workers at Korean shipyards and enhance capacity through public-private partnerships .
The VOYAGES framework also opens India’s growing port infrastructure to Korean developers. A separate MoU between India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries enables Korean companies to participate in India’s $13.3 billion port modernisation pipeline over the next five years, which includes projects like the Vadhvan container port in Maharashtra .
While India’s ambitions are high, the path is not without challenges. The sector will require sustained policy and fiscal support until it becomes self-sufficient and capable of competing with established giants like China . To rectify policy and operational gaps, India will need to focus on regulatory consistency, legal predictability, and providing access to low-cost, long-term capital . The creation of the Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SFCL) is a positive step, but the greater challenge will be establishing a comprehensive industrial ecosystem through workforce development, supplier localisation, and dedicated maritime institutions .
India’s Maritime Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 clearly state the objective of being among the top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and in the top five by 2047 . South Korea’s own journey, from a minor player to a global leader in just 15 years starting in the 1970s, demonstrates what is possible with a focused industrial policy and sustained innovation . India can replicate that success by focusing on three key priorities: sustained policy and financial support, competitive shipbuilding and industrial capacity, and a skilled workforce .
Q&A
Q1: What is the ‘VOYAGES’ framework and what is its significance for India-South Korea relations?
A1: VOYAGES stands for “Vision for Operation of Yard Assisted Growth with Efficiency and Scale” . It is a comprehensive maritime partnership framework formalised during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s April 2026 state visit to India . The framework represents the first multi-pillar maritime partnership between India and the ROK, spanning greenfield shipbuilding clusters, brownfield upgrades, port infrastructure, skills development, and maritime heritage cooperation. It is designed to resolve the strategic contradiction of India’s large maritime stakes and small shipbuilding capacity .
Q2: Which South Korean companies are involved in the shipbuilding partnership with India?
A2: The partnership involves the ‘big three’ of the South Korean shipbuilding industry: Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), and Hanwha Ocean . HD Hyundai has been particularly active, signing an MoU with Cochin Shipyard Limited and partnering with Indian government entities for the joint shipyard project in Thoothukudi .
Q3: Where will India’s first mega greenfield shipyard be built, and what is its planned capacity?
A3: India’s first mega greenfield shipyard is planned for Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu . The shipyard will have an envisaged annual capacity of 2.5 million gross tons (GT) . The project is expected to be a major catalyst for the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, which aims to position India among the top five shipbuilding nations globally .
Q4: What are the key components of the India-South Korea shipbuilding partnership beyond building new shipyards?
A4: Beyond building shipyards, the partnership includes upgrading existing Indian shipyards (brownfield expansion), developing ancillary industries and component manufacturing, fostering a shipbuilding cluster, workforce skill training, establishing academic partnerships between maritime universities, port infrastructure development, and joint manufacturing of next-generation maritime cranes . The opening of a KOMEA office in Mumbai is a significant step towards developing a local component ecosystem .
Q5: What is India’s long-term shipbuilding goal, and how does South Korea fit into this vision?
A5: India’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 aims to make the country one of the world’s top five shipbuilding nations by 2047 . India has also announced a plan to procure over 400 vessels worth approximately ₹2.2 lakh crore (USD 25 billion) in the foreseeable future . South Korea, with its advanced technology, expertise in specialised vessel categories, and efficient production systems, is seen as an “essential partner” to help India achieve these ambitious goals through technology transfer, skills development, and joint ventures .
The New FCRA Rules: Stifling Civil Society Through Administrative Overreach
Civil society organisations in India have long played a vital role in areas where the state’s reach falls short—healthcare, education, disaster relief, and the protection of civil liberties. Yet, for years, the government has treated these organisations with suspicion, using the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) as a tool to impose increasingly stringent restrictions on their functioning . The latest amendment, the FCRA Amendment Rules, 2026, notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on June 22, represents a significant escalation in this pattern . While the government frames these changes as measures to promote “transparency, even-handedness and national security,” the rules appear designed to strangle the very organisations that form the backbone of India’s grassroots development and social welfare framework .
A Regime of Onerous Compliance
The 2026 rules introduce a host of new compliance burdens that fundamentally alter the relationship between the state and civil society. First, NGOs must now confine their work to specific activities chosen from a government-prescribed list under one of five categories—social, economic, educational, cultural, and religious—and to the States and Union Territories named in their registration . This rigid compartmentalisation undermines the ability of organisations to respond to emergencies or adapt to local needs, as Congress leader K.C. Venugopal pointed out in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Existing organisations have been given only one year to comply with these new geographical and activity-based restrictions .
Second, the rules impose a fee structure that replaces the earlier single registration fee with separate charges for each category of work and each State or Union Territory in which an NGO operates . This is “nothing short of an administrative toll-tax designed to discourage pan-India social work,” Venugopal argued . For organisations working across multiple states, the costs multiply, making it financially unviable to operate at scale.
Third, the rules mandate extensive new disclosures. NGOs must now reveal their social media handles, websites, and publications, and are barred from carrying “political content” . They must also disclose the ultimate donor in cases where funds are routed through intermediary remittance vehicles or donor-advised funds . As CPI(M) MP John Brittas noted, these provisions “extend regulatory scrutiny into the sphere of institutional communication, expression, thought, and digital presence” . The expanded definition of “key functionary” now covers trustees, partners, the Karta of a Hindu Undivided Family, and anyone controlling or managing the organisation, broadening the compliance net .
Finally, the rules introduce stringent penalties. Any use of foreign funds for unapproved purposes can attract a penalty of up to 30% of the amount misused or ₹1 lakh, whichever is higher . This, coupled with a minimum spending requirement of ₹10 lakh over two years to avoid cancellation, places a heavy burden on smaller organisations .
A Pattern of Suspicion and Suppression
The new rules are part of a broader pattern. Since 2014, the government has repeatedly tightened FCRA regulations, and over 20,000 registrations have reportedly been revoked over the past decade on opaque grounds . Parliamentary questions on FCRA cancellations have been disallowed as “secret,” raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability within the regulatory regime itself . A 2025 amendment requiring NGOs to obtain a “No Objection Certificate” from the Home Ministry before conducting any activity involving foreign nationals in sensitive states was also met with strong opposition from minority groups .
The government’s March 2026 proposal to allow a designated authority to take over the assets of NGOs whose registrations were cancelled or not renewed was put on hold only after strong protests, particularly from minority institutions . Now, the newly notified rules seem to achieve similar objectives through administrative means, bypassing parliamentary scrutiny . This has led opposition leaders to accuse the government of implementing “draconian controls through the back door” .
The Constitutional and Ethical Concerns
The new rules also raise serious constitutional concerns. In the Noel Harper case (2022), the Supreme Court upheld the stringent 2020 FCRA amendments, accepting the state’s invocation of sovereignty and national security . However, in 2020, the Court had also read down rules that would have classified rights activism, including protests and demonstrations, as work “of a political nature,” drawing a distinction between party politics and the everyday work of social and economic betterment . The new Rules, by seeking to treat advocacy and “political content” as grounds for disqualification, appear to blur this distinction once again .
Furthermore, the rules explicitly exclude “proselytisation” from faith-based activities, without defining the term . This vagueness, as Brittas noted, could lead to arbitrary interpretation and a “chilling effect on the legitimate exercise of constitutional freedoms” . While Article 25 guarantees the right to propagate religion, the Supreme Court in Rev. Stainislaus vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1977) clarified that this does not include a fundamental right to convert another person . The use of undefined, loaded terms in administrative rules only adds to the uncertainty facing faith-based organisations .
Conclusion
The FCRA Amendment Rules, 2026, represent a significant escalation in the government’s approach to civil society. While regulation of foreign contributions is a legitimate sovereign function, the new rules go far beyond financial accountability. They impose geographic, activity-based, and financial burdens that will cripple many organisations, restrict their ability to adapt to local needs, and subject them to intrusive surveillance. The government should withdraw the punitive provisions, particularly those on multiple fees and political content, and adopt fairer rules that respect the vital role civil society plays in India’s democracy . Without such a course correction, the new FCRA rules will succeed not in promoting transparency, but in silencing the very voices that hold power to account.
Q&A
Q1: What are the key changes introduced by the FCRA Amendment Rules, 2026?
A1: The rules require NGOs to choose activities from a government-prescribed list and confine their work to approved States and Union Territories. They must disclose their social media accounts, websites, and publications, and pay separate fees for each category and State/UT. The rules also introduce penalties of up to 30% of misused funds, a minimum spending requirement of ₹10 lakh over two years, and a broadened definition of “key functionary” .
Q2: Why have the new FCRA rules drawn criticism from opposition parties and civil society?
A2: Critics argue the rules are designed to “strangulate” rather than regulate civil society . They say the rules impose rigid activity and geographic restrictions, create an “administrative toll-tax” for pan-India work, mandate intrusive surveillance of digital presence, and introduce vague terms like “proselytisation” that could lead to arbitrary interpretation . Opposition leaders have accused the government of bypassing Parliament to implement measures it could not pass as legislation .
Q3: How do the new rules define permissible religious activities?
A3: Permitted religious activities include construction and maintenance of places of worship, preservation of scriptures, religious education, provision of amenities for pilgrims, community kitchens, and meditation retreats. However, the rules explicitly exclude “proselytisation” from several categories, without clearly defining the term .
Q4: What concerns have been raised about the new rules’ constitutionality?
A4: Critics argue the rules violate fundamental rights by extending regulatory scrutiny into expression, thought, and digital presence. The use of undefined terms like “political content” and “proselytisation” could lead to arbitrary interpretation . While the Supreme Court has upheld FCRA restrictions in the interest of national security, the 2020 Court ruling had drawn a distinction between party politics and legitimate social advocacy—a distinction the new rules appear to blur .
Q5: What has been the political response to the new rules?
A5: Congress leader K.C. Venugopal wrote to Prime Minister Modi calling the rules a “systemic assault” on civil society and urging their withdrawal . CPI(M) MP John Brittas wrote to Home Minister Shah raising constitutional concerns . Minority groups, led by the Catholic Church and DMK MP P. Wilson, have announced protests and prayer days against the rules .
Broken Accountability: The Taratala Collapse and the Human Cost of Corruption
On June 24, 2026, an under-construction warehouse in Kolkata’s Taratala area collapsed, killing at least 14 workers and injuring many others . The three-storey structure on Transport Depot Road, built on land leased from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, came down during concrete casting work .
Preliminary findings point to a “faulty building plan” and design flaws . A structural engineer at the site noted that the iron beams appeared too weak to support the overhead concrete, and essential braces to support the RCC casting were missing .
This tragedy is not an isolated incident. It reflects a systemic crisis rooted in the “Syndicate Raj”—an extortion network that has plagued West Bengal’s construction sector. These syndicates force developers to buy substandard materials at inflated prices, leading to cost-cutting shortcuts that sacrifice safety . Early reports confirmed the contractor used corrugated tin sheets to support a heavy concrete roof—a classic shortcut cartels use to cut costs .
The accountability gap is fragmented. The KMC approved the plan, the Port Trust leased the land, and construction proceeded—yet when lives were lost, blame centred on the local contractor . Police investigations revealed no maintenance records were kept, forcing authorities to rely on eyewitness accounts .
West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari suspended all commercial projects approved by the previous TMC government pending safety audits . Five arrests have been made, including the owner, structural engineer, and labour suppliers . The contractor who died in the collapse had a criminal record . However, as the article notes, “he is only one rung of the ladder.”
The Taratala collapse is a damning indictment of a system where corruption, fragmented accountability, and the exploitation of migrant labour have made death a predictable cost of doing business in Bengal’s construction sector.
Q&A
Q1: What caused the Taratala warehouse collapse?
A1: Investigations suggest a “faulty building plan” and significant design flaws. The iron beams were too weak to support the concrete roof, and essential structural braces were missing. The use of substandard materials to cut costs appears to have been a major contributing factor .
Q2: Who owns the land and who was responsible for the construction?
A2: The land is leasehold property owned by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port. The lease was granted to Behra Brothers in August 2024. Construction was being carried out by a contractor .
Q3: What is the “Syndicate Raj” and how is it connected to this tragedy?
A3: “Syndicate Raj” refers to organized extortion networks in the construction sector, often backed by political figures. They force developers to buy substandard materials at inflated prices, which forces them to take dangerous shortcuts that compromise safety .
Q4: How has the government responded?
A4: Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari suspended all under-construction commercial projects approved by the TMC government pending safety audits. The police have arrested five people, including the warehouse owner and the structural engineer .
Q5: Why is accountability considered “fragmented” in this case?
A5: Accountability is shared between multiple entities—the KMC approved the flawed plan, the port authority leased the land, and the contractor executed the work. Blame can be shifted between them, allowing the ultimate owners of capital to avoid responsibility and engineers to claim ignorance of daily lapses .
A Tribute to R.D. Burman: The Pluralist Who Redefined Film Music
In 1965, acoustic music orthodoxy was shaken at the Newport Folk Festival as Bob Dylan turned electric. In 1967, the Beatles released ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, creating the very idea of a concept album in popular Western music. Sandwiched between these seismic shifts, far away from the Western shores, was a chubby, bespectacled, goofy-looking young man who churned the imagination of Hindi film music with the soundtrack of Nasir Hussain’s Teesri Manzil (1966). Rahul Dev Burman, or Pancham as he was fondly called, burst onto the scene with eight tracks for the film that gave new meaning to the word ‘revolutionary’. The title track of Teesri Manzil became a long-standing template with which to score thrillers and mysteries.
Pancham died 32 years ago, which is about the same span as his musical career. He debuted as an independent composer with Chhote Nawab in 1961 and continued until his death in January 1994. The second half of the 1980s was arguably the nadir for Hindi film music. Most films had a jamboree of garish clamour masquerading as music, and the occasional melodic respite was largely due to Pancham. Saagar in 1985 had tunes spanning Goan overtones to sensuality induced by bass, flute, and tabla. Pancham aficionados would insist on the 1985 film, Sitamgar, as one of the more underrated masterpieces. Around the same period, Pancham’s collaboration with Gulzar on albums like Ijaazat and Dil Padosi Hai (a private album) in 1987 housed a staggering range from the merry to the melancholic, rendered impeccably by Asha Bhosle. Despite such creative overtures, the period through till the early ’90s saw Pancham grapple with spells of inactivity, surrender to mediocrity, plummet into intense self-doubt, and wage a lonely battle with cardiac ailments. It was from this abyss of neglect and crippling despair that he conjured his final act: 1942, A Love Story.
Death froze Pancham at exactly the right mythological moment, just when he had rediscovered his creative mojo and was on the cusp of vindication. He did not live to see the response to his last album. In death, he became the forever wounded, maverick genius who had been abandoned, and for which mass reparations were in order.
Posthumous Admiration
The posthumous Pancham has perhaps had a fuller afterlife. This reclamation could be attributed to various causes. To begin with, there was a collective guilt around having driven a redoubtable artist to depression and possibly death. This lent an emotional gravity to his fandom which went beyond quotidian admiration for his craft. As India opened its economic floodgates to the world in the 1990s, satellite televisions, FM radio, and a burgeoning nightlife created new spaces, and Pancham became the soundtrack for these avenues. Soon, remixes became a booming industry. In its formative years, this industry fed on Pancham’s creative capital, reincarnating him to newer listeners. Subsequently, the internet opened up an abundance of resources and made community-building easier. Fan clubs emerged, some with imaginative names like ‘Burmaniacs’, ‘RDEnt Fana(atic)’, or ‘Panchums’.
These also opened him to investigation with a mathematical precision and a forensic zeal. Some critics have ‘cancelled’ him on grounds of plagiarism, sparking ruminations and debates on the very concept of originality in music and the porosity of its boundaries. Despite limitations of using contemporary parameters to evaluate historic actions, ethical concerns and artistic integrity surrounding some of the allegations remain. Arguably, it would have been prudent of Pancham to offer formal credit to some of his tracks. However, musical traditions have evolved through a healthy mix of borrowing and conservation across generations and geographies. Assessing a three-decade panoramic legacy that far transcends a minuscule fraction of infractions requires a measure of proportion. After all, who owns the copyright of the refrains of Raga Jhijhnoti or the tempo of Jhaaptal? Pancham’s own demonstration in a televised interview of how S.D. Burman’s ‘Thandi Hawayen’ seamlessly moulds into Roshan’s ‘Rahe na rahe hum’ and eventually his own ‘Saagar Kinaare’ is a case in point. ‘Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle’ from the film Aa Gale Lag Jaa, said to be inspired by Elvis Presley’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’, is itself a cover of a century-old American folk song. And yet, it was Pancham’s Hindi reinterpretation that became an anthem of love and longing, achieving a cult status as far away as Algeria where it came to be known as ‘Jantiou’ after a central refrain of the song, ‘Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na’.
A Distinct Musical Signature
Perched at the intersection of melodic depth and sonic innovation, he belonged as much to the golden era pantheon of melodists like Naushad, Madan Mohan, Jaidev, or Roshan as he did to the later coterie of tech-fuelled orchestrators like Bappi Lahiri. Importantly, he had to step out of the shadows of his father, the giant S.D. Burman, and create his own musical signature. This conscious defying of privilege needed conviction and courage. Neither could traditionalists disown him for being noisy nor could the modernists shun him for being bland.
His tunes, for the most part, were eminently hummable even without any sonic embellishments. ‘Jis Gali Mein Tera Ghar’, rendered by Mukesh, from the 1970 superb hit film Kati Patang, is a balmy melody which uses instruments such as the echolette, the vibraphone, and the trancissord to evoke the physical ripple of oars. In the Lata Mangeshkar gem, ‘Dilbar Dil se Pyare’, from the versatile album Caravan (1971), Pancham starts by striking wood on the brass lining of the timpani while using the rabab to give it the steamy gypsy-like texture.
His wanderlust made him a ‘rooted cosmopolitan’ as he seamlessly fused linear Western with cyclical Indian rhythms. The sprightly Kishore Kumar solo ‘Saamne Yeh Kaun Aaya’ from Jawani Diwan (1972) exemplifies this. Calypso-Latino in its essence, it contained the Pedal Matka, a custom-made instrument where the opening of an earthen pot is covered tightly with stretched leather connected to a foot pedal. This allowed the player to manually adjust the pitch and tension while drumming. While highly celebrated for his miraculous breath control adding rhythmic hefts in songs like ‘Duniya Mein logon ko’, he unfortunately remains underappreciated for his extraordinary background music.
A central feature of Pancham’s music is how he incorporated a diversity of emotions and musical genres. His compositions drift from the serious ‘Yun mended se who jaane chaman’ to the comical ‘Ek chatur naar’, from the philosophical ‘Tujhse Naaraz Nahin’ to the absurd ‘Aa Ee Masterji ki aayi chithri’, from the waltz-like sacred ‘Elahi tu sun le’ to the raunchy ‘Aao Na Gale lagao na’, from the wistful ‘Raah pe rahte hain’ to the playful ‘Kal kya hoga kisko pata’, from the sinus-soaked Bhupinder singing the minimalist ‘Ek Hi khwab’ to the elaborate medley in Hum Kisi se Kam Nahin. Contrary to perceptions about his predominant Western tendencies, his understanding of the subcontinental musical ethos presents a vivid tapestry; from a Raga Khamaj based classical ‘jiya na laage mora’ to qawwalis (‘Pal do pal ka saath hamaara’), from the Bihag infused ‘Piya Bawar’ to the Bhatiyali inspired ‘Majhi re majhi ramaiya majhi’.
An Ambassador of Pluralism
At a time when India is caving inward towards jingoistic nationalism, Pancham reminds us how to be an ambassador of pluralism. His alchemic ability to blend Indian traditions with Big Band Jazz, the Brazilian Bossa Nova, and Afro-blues liberated him from any narrow musical citizenship. His music continues to be a consummate antidote to jingoism. By democratising world music, he made global sounds accessible to every Indian at the turn of a radio knob. He broke rules not to transgress but to trailblaze. He enriched music in the breach of norms rather than their observance. Beyond its exuberance and spunk, we have many lessons to learn from Pancham—a free-spiritedness, a sense of curiosity, generosity, and a celebratory vein of secularism.
Happy 87th Pancham! As we celebrate his birthday on 27 June, we hope to remember not just his music but what it stood for. May his eternal resolve of pluralism prevail. May there be more fans than fanatics.
Q&A
Q1: What made R.D. Burman’s music revolutionary for his time?
A1: Pancham’s music was revolutionary because he seamlessly fused Indian classical and folk traditions with Western genres like Big Band Jazz, Bossa Nova, and Afro-blues. His innovative use of instruments—such as the echolette, vibraphone, and the custom-made Pedal Matka—created a distinctive sound that was both globally accessible and deeply rooted in Indian musical ethos.
Q2: How did Pancham handle the shadow of his legendary father, S.D. Burman?
A2: Pancham consciously defied privilege and worked to create his own musical signature. He stepped out of his father’s shadow through conviction and courage, ensuring his music was neither dismissed as noisy by traditionalists nor considered bland by modernists. His unique sound allowed him to belong to both the golden era of melodists and the later tech-fuelled generation.
Q3: What role did Pancham’s posthumous legacy play in his continued influence?
A3: After his death, Pancham’s legacy grew through collective guilt, the rise of remix culture, and the internet, which built fan communities like ‘Burmaniacs’ and ‘Panchums’. This posthumous admiration gave him a “fuller afterlife”, with his music being rediscovered by newer generations and re-evaluated with forensic precision by fans and critics.
Q4: How did Pancham incorporate diversity in his compositions?
A4: Pancham’s music spanned a vast emotional and genre range: from serious classical pieces like ‘Jiya na laage mora’ to comical tracks like ‘Ek chatur naar’, from philosophical ballads to absurd playful numbers. He blended Raga-based melodies with qawwalis, folk traditions, and Western orchestration, showcasing his ability to traverse genres and emotions effortlessly.
Q5: Why is Pancham considered an “ambassador of pluralism”?
A5: In an era of rising jingoistic nationalism, Pancham’s music stands as a powerful antidote. His work democratised world music by making global sounds accessible to every Indian listener. His “rooted cosmopolitan” approach—fusing linear Western rhythms with cyclical Indian beats—celebrated cultural exchange and free-spiritedness, embodying a secular, pluralistic vision of music and life.
A Message Too Loud to Ignore: Sheikh Hasina’s Defiant Voice from Exile
June 23 is deeply intertwined with the Bengali nation’s long struggle for its rights. On this day in 1949, the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) was founded through a struggle against exploitation and deprivation to advance the people’s demands, uphold human dignity, and secure democratic rights. This week marked 77 years of that journey . Yet, instead of celebration, this year’s anniversary was met with a nationwide security ban, arrests, and a government determined to erase the party from public life.
The AL’s sacrifices, leadership, and struggle are woven into every milestone of the nation: The 1952 Language Movement, the 1954 United Front elections, the Six-point Movement of 1966, the 1969 Mass Uprising, the 1970 elections, the historic March 7 speech of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Great War of Liberation, and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Bangladesh. Bangabandhu dreamt of independence for the Bengali nation. He organised the people for that dream, and under his leadership, Bangladesh achieved freedom. He even gave the country its name, “Bangladesh”. Thus, the history of Bangladesh is the history of the Awami League .
Today, however, Bangladesh is in deep crisis once again. The path of hatred, division, vengeance, mob violence, the use of the judiciary as a political weapon, fabricated cases, and state repression initiated by the unelected and unconstitutional interim government led by Muhammad Yunus continues under the current BNP government . It was formed through the farce of an election held on February 12, which kept the country’s largest political party and the organisation that led the struggle for independence away from the ballot. The polls did not reflect the people’s mandate .
A Party Under Siege
The Awami League, which governed Bangladesh for more than two decades across six separate terms, has been systematically dismantled since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024 . On May 12, 2025, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus officially banned all activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act . The Election Commission subsequently suspended the party’s registration . For the first time in 30 years, the “boat” symbol—the AL’s electoral emblem—will not appear on the ballot paper .
The crackdown has been relentless. According to Transparency International Bangladesh, 1,785 cases had been filed nationwide against AL activists and supporters as of November 19, 2025 . On the eve of the party’s 77th founding anniversary, police arrested 26 activists in Dhaka alone for staging processions in defiance of the ban . A police spokesman declared, “We have foiled their plan so far… they will not be able to bring out a procession, hold a rally or gather anywhere” . The government has even barred mainstream media from publishing or broadcasting Hasina’s statements or activities of the Awami League .
Hasina herself has been sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal over charges linked to attempts to suppress the student-led agitation . She has been staying in India since her ouster . Her brother, Sheikh Jamal, and other family members have also been sentenced to death .
“My Absence Is Not Silence”
In a powerful message on the party’s founding anniversary, Sheikh Hasina declared, “My absence is not silence. Even though I am away, I am with the people of Bangladesh” . She stated unequivocally: “Paying respect to Bangladesh is not a crime. Saying ‘Joy Bangla’ is not a crime. Loving the Awami League is not a crime. Speaking of voting rights and democracy is not a crime” .
Her words recall the history of the slogan “Joy Bangla,” which was once banned in Bangladesh, and many AL leaders and activists lost their lives for shouting it . The slogan is inseparable from the spirit of the Liberation War. As Hasina wrote, “The people of Bangladesh have never chosen the path of darkness, and they will not do so now. This nation has seen 1952, 1966, 1969, and 1971. The Bengali nation cannot be suppressed by intimidation” .
The Yunus Interregnum: A Controversial Legacy
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which ruled for 18 months, was mired in controversy . Amnesty International accused it of failing to uphold basic human rights, citing the misuse of the Anti-Terrorism Act against journalists and dissenters, and a weak response to mob violence . The interim government also set a record for lawmaking at “supersonic speed,” promulgating 133 ordinances in just 18 months, many of which were questioned for their legality and transparency . President Mohammed Shahabuddin revealed that during this period he felt “trapped in his own palace” and was subjected to sustained psychological pressure . He alleged that actions during the Yunus administration lacked a constitutional basis and that efforts were made to weaken his authority and force his resignation .
The New Government and the Path Ahead
Following the February 12 election, the BNP formed the government, with Tarique Rahman as Prime Minister . The election, however, was boycotted by the Awami League and has been criticized as a “farce” by Hasina . The BNP’s victory has raised questions about the acceptance of the election, given the exclusion of the AL, which represents a significant portion of the electorate .
Hasina’s message concludes with a vow: “I will return to the struggle to establish the rights of the people of Bangladesh. I will return with the commitment to restore democracy, the rule of law, the people’s voting rights, and the spirit of the liberation war. I will return through the strength of the people” .
Bangladesh stands at a crossroads. On one side is the path of the spirit of liberation, democracy, secularism, the rule of law, voting rights, and development. On the other hand is the path of vengeance, mob violence, fundamentalism, the distortion of history, political bans, and darkness. The people of Bangladesh have never chosen the path of darkness . The coming months will reveal whether the new government can heal the deep divisions and restore democratic norms, or whether the cycle of repression and resistance will continue.
Q&A
Q1: What happened to the Awami League in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government?
A1: The Awami League was banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act in May 2025, its registration suspended, and its electoral symbol removed from the ballot. Thousands of cases have been filed against its leaders and activists, and its president, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death in absentia .
Q2: Why did Sheikh Hasina call the February 2026 election a “farce”?
A2: Hasina has called the election a “farce” because the Awami League, the country’s largest political party, was barred from participating after its registration was suspended. She argues the election did not reflect the people’s mandate and was conducted to exclude the party that led the struggle for independence .
Q3: What was the interim government of Muhammad Yunus accused of?
A3: The Yunus-led interim government was accused of failing to uphold human rights, misusing laws against journalists and dissenters, and creating an environment of mob violence. It was also criticized for promulgating a record number of controversial laws and making long-term international agreements without a mandate. President Shahabuddin also alleged constitutional irregularities and attempts to sideline the presidency .
Q4: What is the significance of the slogan “Joy Bangla” in this context?
A4: “Joy Bangla” is the national slogan and inspiration of the Liberation War. It was once banned, and many Awami League leaders lost their lives for chanting it. Hasina has declared that saying “Joy Bangla” is not a crime, and the slogan remains a powerful symbol of Bengali nationalism and the spirit of 1971 .
Q5: What are the two paths Sheikh Hasina says Bangladesh must choose between?
A5: Hasina describes Bangladesh as standing at a crossroads between the path of the spirit of liberation, democracy, secularism, the rule of law, voting rights, and development—and the path of vengeance, mob violence, fundamentalism, the distortion of history, political bans, and darkness. She asserts that the Bengali nation has never chosen the path of darkness and will not do so now .
The Global South is Becoming Another India-China Arena
The Global South is rapidly emerging as a new theater of geopolitical contest between Asia’s two giants, India and China. While both nations officially advocate for the unity and empowerment of developing countries, their competing visions for leadership and divergent approaches to engagement are increasingly reshaping the landscape of South-South cooperation. The recent interactions at the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting in New Delhi and China’s new white paper on global governance highlight how the rivalry is playing out, not just in border disputes or bilateral tensions, but in the very definition and direction of the Global South itself .
The Clash of Visions at BRICS
On June 22, 2026, on the sidelines of the BRICS NSA meeting, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks that revealed a fundamental divergence in their perspectives on the relationship . Delhi’s framing was focused on bilateral stability, emphasizing “stable, predictable and constructive” ties and the goal of “gradual normalisation” since the 2020 Galwan Valley border clashes. It was a pragmatic approach aimed at managing a complex and sensitive relationship.
Beijing, however, expanded the frame dramatically. Wang Yi declared that “the Global South, including China and India, is collectively rising” and called for the two nations to “accelerate the modernisation process of the Global South” together . This was not an offer of bilateral cooperation, but a political proposition: that China and India’s primary role is as co-anchors of the Global South, and that their cooperation is essential for the bloc’s progress. This language was not new. It had been formalised just five days earlier in China’s new White Paper on global governance, titled “More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions” .
China’s White Paper: A Formal Bid for Global South Leadership
China’s white paper is a significant document that seeks to formally consolidate Beijing’s long-standing diplomatic themes into a coherent vision for reshaping global governance . It articulates a clear and ambitious agenda for the Global South, structured around three key propositions .
First, the paper asserts that a Global South that excludes China is a “pseudo-proposition.” It aims to counter the narrative, which has irked Beijing, that India, through its “Voice of Global South Summits,” could act as a leader of the bloc without including China . India has hosted three such summits without inviting China, a decision that Beijing views as an attempt to undermine its Global South identity and build an exclusive coalition . By formalising the idea that China is an indispensable member of the Global South, the white paper serves as a rebuttal to India’s efforts.
Second, the white paper contrasts China’s “win-win” and “harmonious” approach to cooperation with what it portrays as the “opportunism” of the West, and by extension, India . This is a direct rhetorical offensive, designed to position Beijing as a principled, reliable partner for developing countries. Chinese analysts have cited examples like India’s diplomatic pressure on Sri Lanka to halt Chinese vessels at its ports as evidence of India’s “opportunistic” behaviour . The implication is that India’s actions are driven by competitive nationalism, whereas China’s approach is grounded in genuine, mutually beneficial partnership.
Third, the white paper seeks to usurp a metaphor India has often used for its role in global affairs: acting as a bridge between the Global North and the Global South. While India has positioned itself as a voice for the developing world in forums like the G20, the white paper frames China as seeking to “synergise” North-South cooperation . This is a subtle but significant shift, positioning Beijing, not New Delhi, as the primary interlocutor and coordinator between the two blocs.
The Empirical Record: Beyond the Rhetoric
While China presents itself as a magnanimous actor, its own record in the Global South complicates this narrative. The white paper speaks of “win-win” cooperation and China’s role in “promoting inclusion and accessibility” . However, the experiences of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring around the Hambantota port, or the suspension of signature China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects under fiscal stress in Pakistan, do not reflect the conduct of a partner without strings attached . These examples illustrate the financial and strategic dependencies that can come with Chinese investment. As the article argues, Delhi’s goal should not be to compete with Beijing’s rhetoric word-for-word, but to showcase its own empirical record in Global South fora .
The Green Divide and the Clean-Tech Arena
The India-China rivalry is also playing out in the critical arena of clean technology. This “clean-tech race” is fundamentally hierarchical rather than symmetrical. China occupies a position of full-spectrum dominance across the clean-tech ecosystem, controlling much of the upstream manufacturing chain for solar, batteries, and electric vehicles . India, by contrast, remains largely concentrated in downstream deployment, such as installation and module assembly . This creates a condition of “interdependent rivalry,” where India depends on Chinese inputs for its clean-tech expansion, but is simultaneously seeking strategic autonomy through domestic industrial policies like the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes .
This rivalry has produced a paradox. On one hand, competition is accelerating the green transition by expanding manufacturing capacity and reducing technology costs, particularly in solar . On the other, it is fragmenting supply chains and deepening geopolitical dependencies. Tariffs, export controls, and localization requirements are raising costs and creating a politically unstable system . Both countries are using the World Trade Organization to challenge each other’s trade measures, turning clean technology into a high-stakes geopolitical contest .
Competing Narratives and Structural Asymmetries
The clean-tech rivalry is also a competition over leadership narratives in the Global South . China presents a state-driven model centered on rapid infrastructure deployment through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), offering lower-cost products at unmatched volume. India, in contrast, frames itself as a more democratic, transparent, and locally adaptive partner, emphasizing digital public infrastructure and development partnerships like the International Solar Alliance . However, India faces structural constraints in translating this narrative into industrial scale. Even when countries seek to diversify away from China, economic realities often pull them back to Chinese supply chains because alternatives are costlier or technologically limited .
A Constrained Ambition: The Resource Question
Despite its grand rhetoric, there is a striking contradiction in China’s position: while it presents itself as the champion of a new global order, it remains reticent to commit the scale of financial resources historically associated with global leadership . Unlike the US after World War II, which financed European reconstruction through the Marshall Plan, China’s white paper lacks major new financial commitments . The era of government-led spending on the BRI has been replaced by a more cautious approach . This suggests a strategy of normative power—seeking to define the principles by which global governance is conducted—rather than offering vast economic statecraft .
The Global South is becoming the latest arena for the India-China competition. The rivalry is no longer just about a border in the Himalayas; it is about defining the future of global governance and the economic architecture for a significant part of the world. The stakes are high, and the outcome will shape the 21st-century global order. India’s challenge is to move beyond rhetorical competition and build tangible capabilities that demonstrate its value as a reliable and equitable partner to the nations of the Global South.
Q&A
Q1: What was the key difference in how India and China framed their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS NSA meeting?
A1: India focused on bilateral ties, emphasising “stable, predictable and constructive” relations and “gradual normalisation” since the Galwan clashes. China scaled the meeting up to a “Global South” moment, with Wang Yi calling for the two countries to “accelerate the modernisation process of the Global South” together .
Q2: What are the three main propositions of China’s new White Paper on global governance?
A2: First, that a Global South without China is a “pseudo-proposition.” Second, China promotes a “win-win” and “harmonious” approach, contrasting with Western “opportunism.” Third, it seeks to usurp India’s metaphor of acting as a bridge between the Global North and South, framing its role as “synergising” this cooperation .
Q3: Why did India’s exclusion of China from its “Voice of Global South Summits” irk Beijing?
A3: India’s three summits, from which China was not invited, were seen by Beijing as an attempt to create an exclusive bloc that undermines China’s identity as a member of the Global South. This prompted the White Paper’s thesis that a Global South without China is a “pseudo-proposition” .
Q4: What is the nature of the China-India clean-tech rivalry, and what are its consequences?
A4: The rivalry is “hierarchical.” China dominates upstream manufacturing, while India focuses on downstream deployment. This creates “interdependent rivalry,” where India depends on Chinese inputs but seeks autonomy through domestic policies. The competition accelerates the green transition but also fragments supply chains and raises costs .
Q5: What is the “striking contradiction” in China’s global governance ambition as highlighted in the Chatham House analysis?
A5: China has grand ambitions to reshape global governance, but it is not willing to commit the scale of financial resources historically associated with global leadership. There are no major new financial commitments in the white paper, and the era of massive government-led spending on the BRI has ended .
A Nalanda Model for the 21st Century: India’s Quest for Cognitive Power
The great contests of the 21st century are unlikely to be decided solely on battlefields, in factories, or through financial markets. Nations today are competing for intellectual advantage—the ability to generate ideas, attract talent, shape narratives, and influence the ethical direction of technology and governance. Knowledge is becoming national power.
History shows that every era has had a defining source of strategic advantage. Territorial conquest shaped the age of empire. The Industrial Revolution transformed Britain, Germany, and later the US. The Information Revolution rewarded societies that mastered computing, telecommunications, and digital systems. The world is now entering the age of cognitive power.
This extends far beyond artificial intelligence. Cognitive power includes scientific research, climate knowledge, disaster management, biotechnology, cyber capability, strategic communication, conflict studies, diplomacy, and the ability to shape international norms. The present era is distinguished by the unprecedented strategic value attached to knowledge, research, and intellectual capital.
The United States understood this transformation earlier than most. Its advantage lay not merely in great universities but in linking academia, industry, government funding, military research, and immigration into a single innovation ecosystem. Institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard became strategic assets connected directly to aerospace, semiconductors, biotechnology, and digital innovation.
Equally important was academic freedom. Universities retained sufficient autonomy to encourage experimentation and dissent, allowing talent from around the world to become strategic capital. Innovation rarely flourishes in climates of intimidation. This lesson has universal relevance.
India’s Transition to a Knowledge Civilisation
India adapted impressively during the Information Revolution. Yet its role remained concentrated more in software services than in foundational research. The next leap, therefore, cannot merely be technological. India must move from being a digital economy to becoming a knowledge civilisation.
Nations that invest solely in coding and automation without nurturing ethics, humanities, law, and strategic thought may achieve efficiency without intellectual depth. History reminds us that technological breakthroughs acquire real significance only when accompanied by the ideas and doctrines that give them purpose.
Knowledge power is increasingly central to national resilience and security. Nations that anticipate crises, shape narratives, and build resilience will enjoy geopolitical advantage. India’s Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is a welcome step in this direction. Future conflicts will require strategic thinkers and diplomats as much as technologists.
Encouragingly, India is beginning to recognise the relationship between knowledge ecosystems and long-term strategic development. Economic modernisation can no longer rely only on infrastructure and industrial expansion. Future competitiveness will depend equally upon research, innovation, and higher education.
Nalanda’s Renewed Relevance
In this context, Nalanda in Bihar acquires renewed relevance. More than a millennium ago, it functioned as a transnational intellectual network attracting scholars from across Asia. It represented pluralism, interdisciplinary learning, and openness to ideas—qualities increasingly important in a world seeking to balance technological advancement with ethical reflection.
Properly nurtured, a modern Nalanda could emerge as a centre for Asian cooperation in culture, sustainability, strategic studies, and global governance. The ancient university was not merely an educational institution; it was a hub of intellectual exchange that shaped the civilisational contours of Asia. Its revival is not a nostalgic exercise but a strategic imperative for India’s future.
The Strategic Reality of the 21st Century
The strategic reality of the 21st century is becoming increasingly clear. Military strength will continue to matter, but military capability itself will increasingly depend upon research ecosystems, innovation cultures, and intellectual capital. Nations unable to generate original knowledge will become dependent on others not only for technology but also for strategic narratives and policy frameworks.
India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 represents a significant step towards building this knowledge ecosystem. It emphasises research, critical thinking, and multidisciplinary learning. However, its implementation remains uneven, and the country still lags behind global leaders in research output and quality.
A Nalanda Model for the 21st Century
A modern Nalanda should be more than a university; it should be a knowledge ecosystem that includes research centres, think tanks, innovation labs, and policy institutes. It should connect with the government, the military, and the private sector to create a seamless flow of ideas and talent. It should attract the best minds from around the world, fostering a culture of intellectual exchange and collaboration.
The Nalanda model for the 21st century should also emphasise ethical and strategic thought. India’s ancient traditions of debate and dialogue offer valuable insights for a world grappling with complex ethical dilemmas posed by technology, climate change, and global governance.
Conclusion
The emerging age of cognitive power offers India an opportunity to become once again a civilisation that produces ideas, institutions, and knowledge systems sought by the world. The Nalanda model is not merely an idea from the past; it is a blueprint for the future. By investing in knowledge, India can secure its place as a global leader in the 21st century.
Q&A
Q1: What is “cognitive power,” and why is it becoming the defining source of strategic advantage in the 21st century?
A1: Cognitive power extends beyond artificial intelligence to include scientific research, climate knowledge, disaster management, biotechnology, cyber capability, strategic communication, conflict studies, diplomacy, and the ability to shape international norms. It is becoming central to national resilience and security, as nations that anticipate crises, shape narratives, and build resilience will enjoy geopolitical advantage.
Q2: How did the United States build its cognitive power advantage?
A2: The US built its advantage by linking academia, industry, government funding, military research, and immigration into a single innovation ecosystem. Institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard became strategic assets connected to aerospace, semiconductors, biotechnology, and digital innovation. Academic freedom allowed talent from around the world to become strategic capital.
Q3: What is the difference between a “digital economy” and a “knowledge civilisation”?
A3: A digital economy focuses on software services, automation, and efficiency. A knowledge civilisation, by contrast, invests in foundational research, ethics, humanities, law, and strategic thought. Nations that invest solely in coding and automation may achieve efficiency without intellectual depth.
Q4: Why does Nalanda acquire renewed relevance in the 21st century?
A4: More than a millennium ago, Nalanda functioned as a transnational intellectual network attracting scholars from across Asia. It represented pluralism, interdisciplinary learning, and openness to ideas. Properly nurtured, a modern Nalanda could emerge as a centre for Asian cooperation in culture, sustainability, strategic studies, and global governance.
Q5: What would a “Nalanda model for the 21st century” look like?
A5: A modern Nalanda should be more than a university; it should be a knowledge ecosystem that includes research centres, think tanks, innovation labs, and policy institutes. It should connect with the government, the military, and the private sector to create a seamless flow of ideas and talent. It should also emphasise ethical and strategic thought, drawing on India’s ancient traditions of debate and dialogue.
Meetings About Meetings, and Managers: The Cabinet Secretary’s Challenge to India’s Bureaucracy
It is difficult, even for the most seasoned managers—whether in government or the private sector—to find ways to inspire their subordinates through the drudgery that marks most careers. Take the following sentence: “A career is a bridge, and sometimes it needs a civil engineer.” Does it carry hidden wisdom or is it trite? Clearly, the problem of being inspirational is exercising a figure no less exalted than India’s top bureaucrat .
In a two-page note accompanied by 10 pages of guidelines on how to conduct meetings sent to all secretaries to the Government of India, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan has asked stalwarts of India’s steel frame a vexing question: Are they gaining “30 years’ experience or one year’s experience repeated 30 times” ? This question, sent on June 12, cuts to the heart of administrative stagnation. It asks whether a career spent in the civil service represents genuine growth and learning, or merely the mindless repetition of the same tasks over decades .
A Call for Continuous Improvement and Attention to Detail
The note underlines the need to improve each year, to get the “small things” right, and to “pause and revisit” matters which may seem “routine” . Somanathan argues that civil servants must take care of small things—ranging from how meetings are conducted, to time management, to communication with peers, superiors, or subordinates . He writes, “These things may seem trivial, but from my experience and observation, I would argue that they are very important. They often distinguish an outstanding officer from a mediocre one, even more than domain knowledge” .
Somanathan also observed that several middle-ranking officers had told him that they were happy with the subject-matter training being imparted to them, but needed more practical advice on “so-called routine matters”. “‘Routine’, though it may seem boring, is often extremely important and, thus, during our long careers in the civil service, we may need to pause and revisit it” . This emphasis on revisiting routine is crucial for breaking the cycle of repeating the same year’s experience thirty times.
The 10-Page Guide: A Blueprint for Effective Meetings
The Cabinet Secretary also asked the Secretaries to circulate the guide on holding effective meetings, drawn up by the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), to all civil servants . The conduct of meetings was chosen as the first topic as meetings take up a lot of time in an officer’s day . Many officers have told Somanathan that “many of our meetings tend to start late, be overstretched and directionless, and often lead to no tangible ‘takeaways’” .
The 10-page guide, titled ‘Conducting Effective Meeting,’ offers practical advice on a range of issues:
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Is the Meeting Essential? The guide starts with the basics: being clear about why a meeting is being called and who is to be called. It advises that if the purpose can be achieved through email, phone, or text messages, then a meeting should be avoided . For sensitive issues, the guide suggests that a one-to-one interaction may be more fruitful than a group meeting where people may suffer from “herd mentality” .
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Timing and Duration: It advises that important meetings should not be held a day before or after a holiday as participants may be on leave . It also suggests that long meetings, extending to over an hour, should be avoided .
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Encouraging Open Dialogue: A two-way flow of communication should be maintained during a meeting. The guide encourages someone to be appointed to play the “devil’s advocate” so that participants are aware that different ideas are welcome . It also notes that subordinates are often reluctant to speak frankly for fear of contradicting the boss . For problem-solving meetings, it says the hierarchical structure needs to be side-stepped so that all staff can speak freely .
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Minutes and Follow-up: The guide emphasises the importance of preparing minutes of meetings, giving standardised formats for different kinds of meetings, including a decision or problem-solving meeting, a selection meeting, and an Expenditure Finance Committee meeting . It ends with tips on what is a “good meeting and a bad meeting” .
The Deeper Point: Meetings as Managerial Justification
Much of Somanathan’s advice resonates beyond the government, to anyone who has ever attended an unending series of meetings in a day. This broad swathe of white-collar workers can attest to the fact that, more often than not, the preparation for the meeting to discuss progress on the work promised at the last meeting ends up becoming the work itself . And the ability to make a presentation with a plethora of graphs is more significant for career advancement than the quality of the work the PPT purports to showcase .
This points to a deeper issue: the meeting is often for the manager. The purpose of the meeting, more often than not, is to justify that managerial role . In such a context, the distinction between “30 years of experience” and “a year’s experience repeated 30 times” becomes blurred. If meetings are simply a performance of management rather than a tool for decision-making, then they contribute to the stagnation Somanathan warns against. His note, while practical, challenges this status quo by asking if the time spent in meetings is leading to genuine progress or merely reinforcing a comfortable but unproductive routine.
Q&A
Q1: What question did Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan pose to government secretaries?
A1: He asked them to reflect on whether they were gaining “30 years’ experience or one year’s experience repeated 30 times” . This question was meant to encourage civil servants to assess if they were genuinely improving each year or merely going down a “beaten track” .
Q2: What were the key elements of Somanathan’s advice on conducting effective meetings?
A2: The guidelines advised that meetings should have a clear purpose and be avoided if the goal can be achieved via email or phone . They also suggested not holding important meetings a day before or after a holiday , avoiding long meetings , and encouraging open dialogue by having someone play the “devil’s advocate” . The importance of preparing minutes and following up was also emphasized .
Q3: Why did the Cabinet Secretary choose “conduct of meetings” as the first topic for the new guidelines?
A3: The Cabinet Secretary chose this topic because meetings consume a significant portion of an officer’s day . Many officers had told him that meetings often start late, are overstretched, directionless, and lead to no tangible outcomes .
Q4: What is the “deeper point” the editorial makes about the purpose of meetings?
A4: The editorial suggests that beyond the official purpose of decision-making, meetings often serve to justify the role of the manager . They can become a performance of management rather than a tool for productivity, where preparing for the meeting becomes the work itself and presentations are valued over the actual quality of work .
Q5: What was the broader theme of the Cabinet Secretary’s note to secretaries?
A5: The broader theme was about continuous improvement and attention to detail. Somanathan emphasized the need for civil servants to improve each year, to get the “small things” right, and to “pause and revisit” routine matters . He argued that these small things, including time management and communication, often distinguish an outstanding officer from a mediocre one .
PM Modi Needs a Kamaraj Plan. Will He Bite the Bullet?
As Narendra Modi marches on in his third term in office, attaining the distinction of becoming the longest continuously serving elected prime minister of the country, he is showered with well-deserved encomiums for phenomenal achievements on various fronts . Yet, he is also confronted with questions about the quality of his Council of Ministers and the sense of fatigue that has set in, both in the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) .
Be it the social sector, infrastructure, economy, defence, transport, foreign policy, or digitisation, PM Modi’s record over the last 12 years is outstanding, but the credit, barring exceptions, has gone entirely to him . How competent or otherwise are the 71 members of his Council of Ministers? It appears as if the burden of delivering on promises is entirely on his shoulders. Similarly, while the BJP claims to be the biggest political party in the democratic world (140 million registered primary members), the party apparatus is a pale shadow of what it was two or three decades ago, when it had active general secretaries like Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, and Modi himself .
The Case for a Political Spring-Cleaning
This brings us to the issue of fatigue in both the government and the party. Whenever there is a charismatic head of government like Indira Gandhi or Modi, many in the council of ministers begin to believe that they just need to implement orders from the PMO and “be seen” by the leader . Several of them are leaders in their own right and have long political and administrative experience, but over time, they get used to the perks of their offices and just go with the flow. Many of them need to be shaken out of their slumber and given new tasks to galvanise the party .
What should be done? The prime minister must undertake a major operation to bring in fresh blood into the government and move some heavyweights from the government to the party apparatus. This would strengthen both the government and the party. In other words, Modi must execute a BJP version of the Kamaraj Plan .
What Was the Kamaraj Plan?
K. Kamaraj, chief minister of the then Madras State, suggested in mid-1963, when the fortunes of the Congress party were sagging, that top leaders of the party must exit from government and work for the party . He presented his plan to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and said leading Congressmen “should voluntarily relinquish their ministerial posts and offer themselves for full-time organisational work” . The working committee adopted his proposal, and it was passed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on August 10, 1963 .
Kamaraj set the ball rolling by offering his resignation as chief minister. Soon, other chief ministers and Union ministers offered their resignations . Jawaharlal Nehru took a fortnight to decide and accepted the resignations of six Union ministers—Morarji Desai (Finance), Jagjivan Ram (Transport and Communications), Lal Bahadur Shastri (Home), S K Patil (Food and Agriculture), B Gopal Reddy (Information & Broadcasting), and K L Shrimali (Education)—and six chief ministers: Kamaraj (Madras), Biju Patnaik (Orissa), Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi (Jammu and Kashmir), Binodanand Jha (Bihar), Chandra Bhanu Gupta (Uttar Pradesh), and B A Mandloi (Madhya Pradesh) . Kamaraj was appointed president of the Indian National Congress . S. Gopal, Nehru’s biographer, described the exercise as “an effective way of political spring-cleaning” .
While accepting the AICC diktat on the Kamaraj Plan, Nehru said it was a correct resolution even though it was unusual and unique . The decision was based on making it clear that the Congress does not approve of people being attracted by the office and the power that it brings. “While all of us in the Congress should be devoted to the service of our people, the desire for office or power vitiates the desire for service” .
Relevance for the BJP Today
Since the BJP has been in power continuously at the Centre and in most states over the last 12 years, this observation of Nehru is worth considering . Many within the BJP believe that a certain level of arrogance has crept in among ministers and chief ministers, who are now caricatures of the humble karyakartas they were when they were out of office .
Another observation of Nehru is significant in the current context: “The action should be big enough to be important and striking. That means top personalities who are now in high offices must retire and devote themselves to organisational and/or other forms of service to the people” . This is a key requirement because long years in office make many leaders averse to the “dust and grime” that goes with building the party at the grassroots .
The Challenge of Implementation
Despite his stern exterior, Modi does not let go of those he has worked with for long years. He keeps them engaged. As a result, most ministers have had a long innings in government, and the party is bereft of heavyweights .
However, the political winds are shifting. Speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle has gathered pace, especially after the resignation of George Kurian as Minister of State following the end of his Rajya Sabha term . The BJP’s internal calculations are also shaped by the need to balance caste, region, performance, and alliance equations ahead of key state elections .
Given his temperament, the million-rupee question is, will PM Modi bite the bullet? Will he execute a Kamaraj Plan to inject new life into the government and the party?
Q&A
Q1: What was the Kamaraj Plan and why was it introduced?
A1: The Kamaraj Plan was a political initiative proposed in 1963 by K. Kamaraj, then Chief Minister of Madras State, to revitalise the Congress party. It involved senior leaders voluntarily resigning from ministerial posts to devote themselves to party work, thereby setting an example of renouncing office for service .
Q2: How did the Kamaraj Plan work in practice?
A2: Kamaraj set the ball rolling by resigning as chief minister. Subsequently, six Union ministers and six chief ministers resigned. Nehru accepted these resignations, and several of these leaders were assigned party work, with Kamaraj becoming Congress President .
Q3: Why is a “Kamaraj Plan” relevant to the BJP today?
A3: After 12 years in power, there is a perception of fatigue within the BJP government and organisation. Many ministers and chief ministers are seen as having lost touch with grassroots work, and the party apparatus is weaker than before. A Kamaraj Plan-style reshuffle could inject fresh blood into the government and strengthen the party .
Q4: What are the obstacles to PM Modi implementing a similar plan?
A4: PM Modi is known for his loyalty to long-time colleagues. Despite his stern exterior, he does not easily let go of those he has worked with. This temperament may make it difficult for him to enforce a large-scale resignation of ministers and chief ministers .
Q5: What recent developments suggest a Cabinet reshuffle is imminent?
A5: Speculation about a reshuffle has been fuelled by the resignation of Union Minister George Kurian after his Rajya Sabha term ended, meetings between Home Minister Amit Shah and the President, and the BJP’s need to recalibrate for upcoming state elections .
The World Cup Dream and the Indian Football Mirage: A Crisis of Substance Over Symbolism
As the world descends on the United States, Mexico, and Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the tournament is delivering the underdog stories that make football the world’s game. New football nations are daring to dream, and the old guards are fighting to guard their territory . Yet, in stark contrast, Indian football spent this pivotal week debating a proposal to rename the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to the “Football Federation of Bharat” and approving the mandatory playing of the national anthem and “Vande Mataram” before official matches . The timing of these decisions, made at a Special General Body Meeting on June 20, 2026, with AIFF elections looming and the sport in a state of deep crisis, could not have been more jarring .
Symbolism vs. Substance: A Distracting Debate
There is nothing inherently wrong with symbolism. Nations have always wrapped sport in national identity. The problem is that symbolism has become the loudest conversation in Indian football at a moment when the sport desperately needs a discussion about performance . While administrators debate names and songs, the national team has quietly slipped into irrelevance.
The contrast is uncomfortable. The 2026 World Cup has once again shown that football’s traditional hierarchy is not fixed. Countries with smaller populations, smaller economies, and fewer resources have found ways to compete . Some are built on smart scouting. Others on long-term youth development. Others on clear footballing philosophies that survive changes in coaches and administrators. The common thread is that they all built something.
India, by contrast, often appears to be rebuilding from scratch every few years . The most worrying aspect is that the conversation around Indian football has become increasingly detached from what happens on the pitch. The national team’s decline, marked by a failure to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in nearly a decade , should be a source of outrage and urgent debate . Instead, the conversation remains fixated on superficial changes.
Structural Decay and the ISL Crisis
This focus on optics masks a deeper, more alarming reality. The Indian Super League (ISL), once the flagship project that was supposed to transform the sport, is in crisis . Its market value collapsed by nearly ₹183 crore in a single year, dropping from ₹465.8 crore in February 2025 to ₹283 crore in February 2026 . This is a direct reflection of reduced investment, the departure of high-profile foreign players, and clubs tightening their budgets.
This decline is not just a financial metric; it is a symptom of a broader systemic failure. Investors are walking away . Hundreds of players face an uncertain future, with some clubs even seeing their players boycott training over unpaid salaries . The credibility of the entire ecosystem has been damaged.
Former Indian football legend Bhaichung Bhutia described the current state of the league as a “holding operation” rather than a revival. He noted that clubs built teams with high budgets and expectations of returns that have not materialised, leading to pay cuts and uncertainty . The corporate interest that flowed into an exhibition match featuring Lionel Messi highlights a stark reality: in India, money follows global stardom, not domestic structure . As Bhutia noted, the current season is less about revival and more about merely keeping the league alive .
The OCI Shortcut: A Patch, Not a Solution
The AIFF’s approach to strengthening the national team has also been problematic. Much of the discussion has revolved around Players of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). The AIFF has shortlisted 28 such players as part of a strategy to expand the talent pool, inspired by the pathway of Bengaluru FC’s Ryan Williams, who renounced his Australian citizenship to play for India .
The logic is understandable. If the domestic pipeline is not producing enough quality, perhaps help can come from elsewhere. The government is even considering a “Sports Passport” framework that could allow OCI athletes to represent India in international sport .
However, there are fundamental problems with this approach. India’s citizenship laws currently prevent OCI holders from representing the national team unless they acquire Indian citizenship, a process far more demanding than in many other nations . Even supporters of the OCI route admit that it is, at best, a short-term patch .
The larger question is more uncomfortable. Why is a country of 1.4 billion people looking overseas for answers ? The obsession with OCI players risks becoming a distraction from a far more fundamental problem: scouting and talent identification within India remain woefully inadequate. Every major football nation has networks stretching into villages, schools, and local leagues. India still relies heavily on a narrow professional ecosystem concentrated in a handful of states and academies . While India searches for shortcuts, the rest of the world moves on.
Conclusion: A Dream Deferred
The scenes from the 2026 FIFA World Cup should serve as a stark wake-up call. The tournament is filled with nations that spent years making sensible decisions before enjoying their moment on the global stage. India wants the moment without completing the journey . India’s decision to host the U-17 World Cup in 2017 was a celebrated achievement, but the legacy has been wasted. Eighteen players from that edition are now leading their national teams at the ongoing World Cup. India’s best-trained batch, however, has slipped into oblivion .
It is not that the World Cup dream is impossible; it is that it is becoming increasingly unrealistic. Unless Indian football takes drastic steps to fix its structures, strengthen its leagues, widen its scouting network, and prioritise development over optics, qualification will remain what it has always been: A dream discussed every four years and forgotten for the next four .
Q&A
Q1: What decisions did the AIFF make at its June 2026 Special General Body Meeting?
A1: The AIFF approved a proposal to rename itself to the “Football Federation of Bharat” (FFB) and mandated the playing of the national anthem and “Vande Mataram” before official matches. The meeting also set the start date for the next ISL season and approved a revised constitution aligned with the National Sports Governance Act .
Q2: Why has the focus on symbolism (like renaming the federation) been criticized?
A2: Critics argue that while the AIFF debates names and songs, the national team has declined to its lowest point in years, failing to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in nearly a decade. The focus on optics is seen as a distraction from the urgent need to address structural failures, talent development, and the financial crisis in the ISL .
Q3: What is the current state of the Indian Super League (ISL)?
A3: The ISL is in a state of crisis. Its total market value dropped by ₹182.8 crore in one year, reflecting reduced investment, departure of foreign players, and financial strain on clubs. There are reports of players boycotting training over unpaid wages, and investors are walking away .
Q4: What is the “OCI pathway” and what are its limitations?
A4: The OCI pathway refers to the AIFF’s strategy to recruit Players of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) for the national team. However, India’s citizenship laws do not allow dual nationality. Players must surrender their foreign citizenship and acquire an Indian passport to become eligible, a process that is far more demanding than in many other countries .
Q5: How does the public and corporate response to events like the Messi exhibition compare to support for domestic football?
A5: Corporate India and fans have shown a willingness to invest heavily in global stars like Messi, with over ₹100 crore poured into a short-term exhibition event. In contrast, the ISL has struggled to secure investment, and stadiums often remain empty for domestic matches. This highlights a cultural challenge where Indian football fandom remains star-driven rather than league-driven .
If Passport Is Not Proof of Citizenship, What Is? The Legal Reality Behind India’s Citizenship Puzzle
On June 24, 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) triggered a firestorm of confusion and political outrage when it clarified that an Indian passport is “primarily a travel document” and not a standalone proof of citizenship . For most Indians, the navy-blue booklet has long been the ultimate symbol of national identity, carrying the Republic’s name and accepted worldwide. The statement, made on Passport Seva Divas, seemed to undermine the very document that citizens use to travel abroad and seek consular protection .
However, the MEA’s clarification was not a new policy or a shift in position. Government sources, former foreign secretaries, and legal experts quickly pointed out that this has been the legal reality for decades . As former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao explained, a passport is issued under the Passports Act, 1967, while citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955 . “A passport does not create citizenship. Nor is it the legal instrument that finally determines citizenship if that status is challenged before a court,” she wrote on X . The confusion arose because, in ordinary life and international travel, a passport is powerful evidence of nationality—but in a legal dispute, it is not conclusive .
Why a Passport Is Not Conclusive Proof
The legal basis for this position rests on two pillars. First, Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, explicitly empowers the Central Government to issue a passport or travel document to a non-citizen if it considers such issuance necessary in the public interest . This provision has historically been used for stateless persons like Tibetan refugees and Sri Lankan Tamils who needed to travel abroad .
Second, judicial precedents have consistently reinforced this distinction. In a 2013 judgment, the Bombay High Court held that documents like passports, Aadhaar cards, and birth certificates can be important evidence but do not amount to “conclusive” or “definitive” proof of citizenship . The court stressed that citizenship must be examined according to the law made by Parliament . The Supreme Court has also distinguished between identity documents and proof of citizenship, noting that Aadhaar, voter IDs, and PAN cards serve specific purposes but do not by themselves determine citizenship .
What Actually Proves Citizenship?
If passports, Aadhaar, voter IDs, and PAN cards are not conclusive proof, what is? The answer lies not in a single document but in the legal status of citizenship itself, as defined by the Constitution and the Citizenship Act, 1955 . India does not have a single, universal national citizenship card . For most Indians who are citizens by birth, citizenship is a status arising from facts such as birth, parentage, domicile, or naturalisation, and documents serve as evidence of those facts .
The most definitive proof is a Certificate of Naturalisation or Certificate of Registration, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 . These are granted to foreign nationals or persons of Indian origin who acquire citizenship through the statutory process. For the overwhelming majority of citizens by birth, a birth certificate serves as the foundational document, but its legal value depends entirely on the year of birth :
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Born in India between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987: A birth certificate alone is absolute proof, as citizenship was granted solely by birth on Indian soil.
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Born between 1 July 1987 and 3 December 2004: The birth certificate must be accompanied by proof that at least one parent was an Indian citizen at the time of birth.
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Born after 3 December 2004: The birth certificate must be corroborated by evidence that both parents were Indian citizens, or that one parent was a citizen and the other was not an illegal migrant.
For those who cannot produce these documents, establishing citizenship may require a chain of historical records—birth certificates, parents’ citizenship records, school records, electoral roll entries, land records, and other government documents—that satisfy the chronological conditions of the Citizenship Act .
The Bigger Problem: No Universal Citizenship Document
The MEA’s clarification has exposed a deeper systemic issue: India does not issue a universal citizenship certificate for all citizens . Certification of citizenship is limited to those who acquire it through registration or naturalisation . For the vast majority of citizens by birth, citizenship is inferred from a combination of records rather than through a single definitive credential .
This ambiguity is compounded by the fact that India’s civil registration system evolved unevenly. Universal birth registration is a relatively recent phenomenon, and for millions of older Indians, there is no single document that unequivocally proves their citizenship . As former law secretary P.K. Malhotra noted, “Since courts have specifically ruled that Aadhaar, EPIC, ration card, etc. are documents that prove only identity and are not conclusive evidence of citizenship, it is high time the government came up with a document which conclusively proves Indian citizenship” .
The closest India came to creating such a document was through the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The legal architecture was put in place through the Citizenship Rules, 2003, envisaging a National Register and identity cards linked to citizenship . However, the NRC was never rolled out nationwide. The only large-scale implementation occurred in Assam between 2015 and 2019, where nearly 19 lakh people were left out of the final list due to documentary inconsistencies . The exercise became politically contentious and was overtaken by fears of a nationwide citizenship verification exercise.
Conclusion: A Long-Standing Reality, a Persistent Puzzle
The MEA’s clarification that a passport is not proof of citizenship is legally correct and has been the position for decades. It reflects a fundamental distinction under Indian law: the Passports Act regulates travel documents, while the Citizenship Act determines legal status. However, the controversy it has sparked highlights a deeper anxiety. In a country where citizenship is determined by a combination of birth timelines, parental status, and a patchwork of records, and where no single universally held document exists, the question “What is proof of citizenship?” remains unresolved. Until India develops a clear, universal, and legally conclusive framework for certifying citizenship, this confusion will persist, and citizens will remain vulnerable to administrative and legal uncertainty.
Q&A
Q1: Did the MEA announce a new policy when it said a passport is not proof of citizenship?
A1: No. The MEA’s clarification was not a new policy but a reiteration of a long-standing legal position. Government sources and legal experts confirmed that the Passports Act, 1967 and judicial precedents (including a 2013 Bombay High Court judgment) have consistently held that a passport is a travel document, not conclusive proof of citizenship .
Q2: Why is a passport not considered conclusive proof of citizenship under Indian law?
A2: There are two primary reasons. First, Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, allows the government to issue passports to non-citizens in exceptional cases (such as stateless persons) . Second, courts have ruled that citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act, 1955, based on birth, parentage, or naturalisation, and a passport, while strong evidence, does not override a legal challenge to citizenship status .
Q3: What documents are considered definitive proof of Indian citizenship?
A3: The most definitive proof is a Certificate of Naturalisation or Certificate of Registration issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to those who acquire citizenship through Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act . For citizens by birth, a birth certificate is foundational, but its legal value depends on the year of birth: for those born before 1987, it alone proves citizenship; for those born after, it must be supported by proof of parents’ citizenship .
Q4: Why doesn’t India have a single, universal citizenship document like some other countries?
A4: India does not issue a universal citizenship certificate. Certification is limited to those who acquire citizenship through registration or naturalisation . For citizens by birth, citizenship is inferred from a combination of records (birth certificates, electoral rolls, school records, land records, etc.) rather than a single credential. The National Register of Citizens (NRC), which could have provided such a document, was never rolled out nationwide .
Q5: What is the significance of the 2013 Bombay High Court judgment in this context?
A5: The 2013 Bombay High Court judgment is frequently cited as a key precedent. The court ruled that documents like passports, Aadhaar cards, and birth certificates are important evidence but are not “conclusive” or “definitive” proof of citizenship . It stressed that citizenship must be examined under the Citizenship Act, not merely by possession of a document, and this principle has been reaffirmed subsequently .
Simplifying Investment for Non-Investors: India’s Next Frontier in Economic Inclusion
Over the past decade, financial inclusion has expanded by leaps in India, drawing millions into the formal banking system. This, however, has mostly meant no-frill bank accounts for the country’s multitudes—a worthy objective that enabled the state to deliver welfare support directly to those in need . But a fast-emerging economy must set its sights higher. In a world where money is made off money, savers must learn to become investors too. The path of upward mobility is open to everyone, but it requires illumination through education.
The Missing Link: From Access to Understanding
Financial inclusion has been a significant achievement, but access does not automatically translate into financial maturity. A recent survey of ‘financial maturity’ in Gujarat and Rajasthan by the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research and People’s Research on India’s Consumer Economy found abysmal levels of awareness . The sample scored high on basic mathematical tools used in personal finance, but struggled with concepts like inflation and compounding . Less than a fourth showed conceptual clarity of what a bond is. Stocks and mutual funds fared even worse, with under a fifth able to pass a familiarity test .
The Financial Maturity Index (FMI), a comprehensive framework developed to assess household financial capability, reveals that while India has achieved substantial progress in expanding access, financial maturity remains uneven and constrained . Households continue to engage with financial systems despite significant gaps in understanding key concepts such as compounding, inflation, and risk-return trade-offs . This often leads to suboptimal decisions—over-borrowing, misaligned investment choices, and reliance on informal advice.
Retirement planning is particularly weak. A substantial majority—72.4%—said they had “hardly thought” about their financial needs after retirement, and more than 55% said they “haven’t started yet” when it comes to retirement savings . The study found that while more than 85% preferred saving over non-essential spending, more than half said financial matters were stressful, and over a third admitted postponing important financial decisions . This creates a behavioural trap where households seek security but delay action.
Learning from the ‘Sahi Hai’ Success
The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) has done a remarkable job of stirring interest in mutual funds through its iconic “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” campaign . Launched in March 2017, the campaign encouraged people to begin their investment journey through systematic investment plans (SIPs), with messaging revolving around achieving long-term financial goals such as children’s future and retirement planning . The campaign has become a transformative force in financial awareness across the country, fundamentally reshaping how millions of Indians perceive mutual funds .
The success of this campaign suggests that a well-crafted public service ad campaign could have a similar impact on broader investment education . However, to craft a mass campaign for a broader purpose, the shortcut of hiring celebrities may not suffice. India’s creative outreach must deploy reason, rather than just fame, for lasting impact . Key concepts of investment can be simplified, along with how they work and differ. Once basic options are driven home, a secondary effort could explain the nuances of risk, with safety levels placed in an earnest spotlight.
The Role of Regulators in Building Confidence
Pro-investor measures taken by the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), could be highlighted in such a campaign . To minimize fraud, SEBI has ‘verified’ badges for trusted apps and a device to help investors verify returns claimed by sellers of financial packages. It also has SCORES—SEBI Complaints Redress System—an online platform launched to facilitate investors in lodging and tracking their complaints against listed companies, registered intermediaries, and other market participants .
SCORES 2.0, introduced in April 2024, has reduced the resolution timeline to 21 calendar days from 30, introduced auto-routing of complaints, an auto-escalation mechanism for unresolved complaints, and a two-level review system . Investors can seek a first-level review from designated bodies within 15 days and a second-level review from SEBI if still unsatisfied . The platform is also accessible via mobile app, available on both Google Play and the App Store . Investors, especially new ones, need to hear how regulators have their backs.
A Radical Idea: Enlisting Non-Investors
A somewhat radical idea would be to enlist non-investors by awarding them shares in public sector companies . As with direct benefit transfers, Aadhaar could help universalize demat accounts across the country. This way, inclusion could drive education. When people own even a single share, they have a tangible stake in the market. They begin to follow company news, understand stock prices, and appreciate the connection between economic performance and personal wealth. This experiential learning can be far more powerful than any campaign.
The Bajaj Broking campaign, “Seedhi, Simple Investing,” launched recently, addresses a recurring challenge—financial jargon and complex onboarding processes that often deter first-time and casual investors . The campaign reframes investing as a practical, manageable task by linking financial decisions with relatable, everyday actions . Similarly, HDFC Mutual Fund’s “Hum Sab Investors Hain” campaign targets hesitant investors by reinforcing the core values of SIPs and nudging non-investors to realize that they are already investing in life every day—they just need to extend that mindset to their financial decisions .
Conclusion: The Next Frontier
India has done well to bring people into the formal financial system. The next frontier is to help them navigate it with confidence. The evidence from the Financial Maturity Index is clear: access without understanding does not lead to financial well-being . A well-crafted public service campaign, combined with practical steps like universal demat accounts and clear communication of regulatory protections, could empower millions of non-investors to become investors.
The goal is not just financial inclusion but economic inclusion—where every Indian, regardless of background, has the opportunity to build wealth and secure their future. In a world of rising aspirations, the question is not whether India can afford such a campaign, but whether it can afford not to invest in its own people’s financial literacy.
Q&A
Q1: What is the Financial Maturity Index and what does it reveal about household financial capability in India?
A1: The Financial Maturity Index (FMI) is a multidimensional framework developed by the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research and IIM Udaipur to assess the depth, quality, and sustainability of household financial engagement in India . It evaluates how households understand, use, manage, and sustain financial resources, moving beyond traditional measures of financial inclusion that focus mainly on access . The findings reveal that while India has achieved substantial progress in expanding access to financial services, financial maturity remains uneven—significant gaps exist in understanding key concepts such as compounding, inflation, and risk-return trade-offs .
Q2: Why is the “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” campaign considered a model for investment education?
A2: Launched by AMFI in March 2017, the campaign has become a transformative force in financial awareness across India, reshaping how millions of Indians perceive mutual funds . It encouraged people to begin their investment journey through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route, with key messaging around achieving long-term financial goals such as children’s future and retirement planning . The campaign’s success in stirring interest in mutual funds suggests that a similar public service campaign could drive broader investment education .
Q3: What is SEBI’s SCORES platform and how does it help investors?
A3: SCORES stands for SEBI Complaints Redress System—an online platform launched by SEBI to facilitate investors in lodging and tracking their complaints against listed companies and registered intermediaries . SCORES 2.0, introduced in April 2024, reduced resolution time to 21 calendar days, introduced auto-routing of complaints, an auto-escalation mechanism, and a two-level review system . It is also accessible via mobile apps available on Google Play and the App Store .
Q4: How can Aadhaar help in universalizing investment participation?
A4: As with direct benefit transfers, Aadhaar could help universalize demat accounts across the country . When people own even a single share, they have a tangible stake in the market. They begin to follow company news, understand stock prices, and appreciate the connection between economic performance and personal wealth. This experiential learning can be far more powerful than any campaign, driving inclusion through education .
Q5: What are the key weaknesses in household financial literacy highlighted by the survey?
A5: The survey found that only around 35% of respondents in Gujarat and 38% in Rajasthan answered a basic compounding question correctly . A substantial majority (72.4%) said they had “hardly thought” about their financial needs after retirement, with more than 55% saying they “haven’t started yet” when it comes to retirement savings . While more than 85% preferred saving over non-essential spending, more than half said financial matters were stressful, and over a third admitted postponing important financial decisions .
How Low-Hanging Fruit Could Give India Outsized Gains
In a world of rising geopolitical uncertainty and economic fragmentation, India’s ability to achieve “outsized gains” will depend not on dramatic breakthroughs, but on efficiently harvesting low-hanging fruit. India is currently witnessing a pivotal moment where its economic strategies are intersecting with a rapidly evolving global trade environment. The country is striving to secure diverse export markets and integrate its economy into global supply chains, a move driven by the need to build resilience against geopolitical shocks, secure dependable dollar inflows from export earnings, and bolster its strategic leverage .
A fundamental challenge that hinders India’s progress is the high cost of trade, which weighs heavily on the country’s competitiveness. This is especially crippling for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of the Indian economy . While India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) has improved from 44th in 2018 to 38th in 2023, it still lags behind competitors like China . The government has set a target to break into the top 25 by 2030 .
A significant part of the solution lies in reducing these trade costs through the digitization and simplification of trade processes. India has made notable strides in this area, with its score in the UNESCAP Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation jumping to 90.32% in 2021 from 78.49% in 2019 . However, one critical metric has stagnated: cross-border paperless trade. While India’s score in this area rose to 67% in 2021 from 28% in 2015, it has not improved since, highlighting a clear need for policy intervention . This stagnation represents a significant missed opportunity.
BharatTradeNet: India’s Digital Public Infrastructure for Trade
The government has recognized this challenge and is acting on it. The Union Budget 2025-26 announced the creation of BharatTradeNet (BTN) , a unified digital public infrastructure-based stack for international trade documentation and financing solutions . The platform’s goal is to integrate all stakeholders—exporters, importers, customs authorities, banks, and logistics providers—into a single, seamless digital network . The plan is to create a separate agency, likely a Section 8 (not-for-profit) company, to implement this ambitious project, which is estimated to take 2-3 years to take shape .
Currently, international trade in India involves navigating a fragmented web of about 30 different entities and portals. Exporters often have to fill out over 5,000 data points to complete a transaction . By digitizing the entire range of trade documentation—including critical documents like Bills of Lading and Letters of Credit—BTN aims to:
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Streamline Processes: Real-time data sharing between agencies will reduce data anomalies and check informal trade.
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Reduce Costs: Eliminating paper-based processes will lower transaction costs and reduce delays.
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Improve Access to Finance: By integrating financial institutions, the platform will help MSMEs access loans and credit more easily by providing real-time, verified trade data to lenders.
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Enhance Competitiveness: Faster clearances and lower costs will make Indian exports more competitive globally. The platform is also expected to complement the RBI’s Unified Lending Interface (ULI) .
The Export Promotion Mission: Supporting MSMEs
Complementing the BharatTradeNet initiative is the Export Promotion Mission, also announced in the 2025-26 Budget, with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore . This mission is designed to provide direct support to exporters, especially MSMEs, by:
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Facilitating access to export credit.
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Supporting cross-border factoring support.
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Helping MSMEs tackle non-tariff measures in overseas markets .
The mission will be jointly led by the ministries of commerce, MSME, and finance, signaling a coordinated government effort to boost exports . This support is crucial as MSMEs face challenges like the discontinuation of the Interest Equalisation Scheme, which had provided a 2-3% interest subsidy to counter high borrowing costs . The discontinuation of this scheme threatens the price competitiveness of MSMEs, who drive 45.7% of India’s exports .
Macroeconomic Context and Competitiveness
India’s export sector is showing mixed signals. Merchandise exports grew modestly from $313 billion to $442 billion between 2013-14 and 2025-26, but imports grew faster, from $451 billion to $775 billion . The current account deficit (CAD) is a major concern, with merchandise imports outweighing exports. India’s share in global merchandise exports has remained stagnant at around 1.8%, while services exports have performed significantly better . This underperformance in goods is partly due to high trade costs and protectionist policies that raise input costs for downstream industries, especially MSMEs .
The current geopolitical climate, including the conflict in the Middle East and a deficient monsoon, adds further pressure on the economy and underscores the need for resilient supply chains . As the Indian government focuses on a new wave of globalization, the low-hanging fruit of reducing trade costs, embracing cross-border paperless trade, and implementing BharatTradeNet could deliver outsized gains by making Indian exports more competitive and resilient. A 2024 survey on ‘financial maturity’ in Gujarat and Rajasthan found abysmal levels of awareness about key concepts like inflation and compounding . This lack of financial literacy is a barrier to economic inclusion and growth, suggesting that efforts to simplify investment and improve trade literacy are equally important for driving long-term economic development.
Q&A
1. What is BharatTradeNet (BTN)?
BTN is a digital public infrastructure announced in the Union Budget 2025-26 to serve as a unified platform for international trade documentation and financing. It aims to replace paper-based processes by integrating all trade stakeholders (exporters, importers, customs, banks) into a single digital network, simplifying procedures and reducing costs .
2. What is the Export Promotion Mission and how will it support MSMEs?
The Export Promotion Mission is a ₹2,250 crore initiative to boost export competitiveness. It will focus on improving access to export credit, providing cross-border factoring support, and helping MSMEs tackle non-tariff barriers in overseas markets. It will be driven jointly by the ministries of commerce, MSME, and finance .
3. Why is “cross-border paperless trade” a key metric for India?
India’s cross-border paperless trade score has stagnated at 67% since 2021 after rising from 28% in 2015 . Improving this metric will streamline exports, reduce transaction costs, and improve India’s ranking in global indices like the Logistics Performance Index (LPI), where India ranks 38th, behind competitors like China .
4. How does the discontinuation of the Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) impact MSMEs?
The IES provided a 2-3% interest subsidy to MSMEs to counter high borrowing costs. Its discontinuation threatens the price competitiveness of MSMEs, who account for 45.7% of India’s exports. Without it, Indian exporters may lose orders to competitors in nations like Bangladesh or Vietnam that have lower interest rates .
5. What was India’s overall merchandise export performance between 2013-14 and 2025-26?
Merchandise exports grew from about $313 billion to $442 billion in this period, but imports grew faster from $451 billion to $775 billion, widening the trade deficit. Meanwhile, India’s share of global merchandise exports remained stagnant at around 1.8%, while services exports performed better, rising from $152 billion to $418 billion .
Did India’s Forex Reserves Position Really Warrant the RBI’s Crisis Playbook?
The rapid depreciation of the rupee in the wake of the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz prompted a two-pronged response from the Indian establishment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on air urging citizens to curb expenditure on imports and foreign travel to conserve foreign exchange. Simultaneously, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which had been intervening in both the spot and forward markets to shore up reserves, announced a series of measures to arrest the outflow of foreign currency. This swift and aggressive response created an impression of India being in a 1991-like crisis, when the country had almost run out of forex and had to deposit gold abroad as collateral for emergency loans.
The central question, however, is whether the scale of the response was proportionate to the actual threat. India’s forex reserves stood at a robust $728 billion at the end of February. By early June, even after falling to $682 billion, reserves still amounted to 11 months of import cover. Adjusted for forward dollar commitments of $110 billion and short-term debt exposure of $235 billion, the net liquidity buffer was still a healthy $337 billion—equivalent to 5-6 months of import cover, well above the prudential benchmark of three months . So what prompted the RBI to pull out its crisis playbook?
The Numbers Behind the Defense
The answer lies in the pressure the rupee was under and the specific tactics the RBI chose to defend it. The rupee had plunged to a record low, touching nearly 97 per dollar in May 2026, driven by the oil price shock and foreign portfolio outflows . To curb the slide, the RBI deployed a massive arsenal. Spot dollar sales rose to a record $53.13 billion over fiscal year 2026. More significantly, the RBI leaned heavily into forward contracts, committing to deliver dollars at future dates .
The RBI’s net short position in forward dollar-selling contracts crossed the $110 billion mark by early June 2026, a record for the central bank . This approach allowed the RBI to support the rupee without immediately depleting its spot reserves, effectively buying time. The cost, however, was evident: forex reserves fell by a staggering $40 billion in just one month, with more than $11 billion lost in a single week .
The NRI Deposit Gambit and Its Cost
The RBI’s key measure to attract dollars was the introduction of a dollar-rupee swap facility for fresh Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) (FCNR(B)) deposits with maturities of three to five years . This facility was designed to help banks mobilize dollar deposits from NRIs without bearing the currency risk, as the RBI would absorb the hedging cost .
The scheme created a powerful arbitrage opportunity. An NRI could borrow dollars in overseas markets (at around 5.5%-6%) and deposit them in India under the FCNR(B) scheme (earning 6.5%-7%). With 5x leverage, an investor could potentially generate a 5% return on their own capital by exploiting the narrow interest rate spread . The RBI’s move to remove the ceiling on interest rates on these deposits was intended to make the offer even more attractive .
The question is whether this high-cost intervention was justified at a time of relatively comfortable reserves. Critics argue that the measures carry a “fiscal hazard.” When the RBI absorbs hedging costs, it affects its balance sheet and, ultimately, the public exchequer—meaning the taxpayer provides rupee-depreciation insurance to a select group of depositors . Moreover, while the scheme may succeed in drawing large volumes of dollars, the cost could be significant. For a net loss of $40 billion in a month, the RBI’s defense appears to have been costly .
Structural Vulnerabilities Beneath the Numbers
Beyond the immediate crisis, the RBI’s actions highlight deeper structural weaknesses in India’s external sector. While gross FDI peaked at nearly $95 billion in 2025-26, a significant portion flowed out as repatriation and outward FDI, leaving net FDI under $7.7 billion . This is a stark contrast to much higher retention rates in other emerging markets . India’s capital inflows have an inbuilt liability: portfolio flows can exit overnight, foreign currency deposits must be repaid, and even FDI is increasingly financial capital with exit options . The quality of FDI matters as much as the quantity .
Furthermore, India’s dependence on imported oil (about 85% of its needs) makes the rupee highly sensitive to energy price swings. When oil gets more expensive, the country needs more dollars, which puts pressure on the rupee . This is a structural problem that no amount of reserve intervention can permanently solve.
Conclusion: A Necessary Cost or Overreaction?
The RBI’s aggressive defense of the rupee was a response to a genuine external shock, but the scale and cost of the intervention are debatable. While reserves remain adequate by most metrics, the forward book, if not managed carefully, could cap the rupee’s recovery. As Goldman Sachs analysts note, the RBI is likely to use any renewed capital flows to unwind its short forward book and rebuild reserves, rather than allow a big appreciation . The RBI’s actions may have been justified in the short term, but they also underscore the urgent need for India to address its structural vulnerabilities: reducing its dollar drain from energy and other imports, attracting FDI that creates net exports and jobs, and gradually diversifying away from the dollar . Otherwise, the central bank’s “crisis playbook” may become a recurring expense.
Q&A
Q1: What prompted the RBI to use its “crisis playbook” in mid-2026?
A1: The rapid depreciation of the rupee, which fell to a record low of nearly 97 per dollar in May 2026, driven by the Iran war, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and foreign portfolio outflows. The RBI responded with aggressive spot and forward market interventions.
Q2: How did the RBI defend the rupee without immediately depleting its spot reserves?
A2: The RBI used forward dollar-selling contracts, committing to deliver dollars at future dates. By early June 2026, its net short position in forward contracts had crossed $110 billion, allowing it to support the currency today while deferring the direct hit to reserves.
Q3: What was the RBI’s key measure to attract foreign currency inflows?
A3: The introduction of a dollar-rupee swap facility for fresh FCNR(B) deposits with tenors of 3 to 5 years. The facility allowed banks to attract dollar deposits from NRIs by offering protection against currency risk, as the RBI would absorb the hedging cost.
Q4: Why is the cost of the RBI’s intervention a concern?
A4: The cost is reflected in the sharp decline of forex reserves by $40 billion in a single month. Furthermore, the RBI’s decision to absorb hedging costs means the public exchequer, i.e., taxpayers, effectively provide rupee-depreciation insurance to NRI depositors. The forward contracts also create a future obligation to deliver dollars.
Q5: What structural vulnerabilities in India’s external sector does this crisis highlight?
A5: India’s capital inflows have an inbuilt liability, with portfolio flows and FDI often leaving as quickly as they arrive. Net FDI has been low due to high repatriation. India’s dependence on imported oil also makes the rupee highly sensitive to energy price swings, a long-term structural problem that reserve intervention alone cannot solve.
Meta’s ‘Super-App’ Gambit: Will Kunal Shah Finally Make It Happen?
Meta’s appointment of CRED founder Kunal Shah as the global CEO of WhatsApp, coupled with a $900 million investment in his fintech startup, is a high-stakes move that signals the company’s ambition to transform the world’s largest messaging app into a comprehensive “super-app” . The choice of Shah, a builder who made his name in India’s fast-paced fintech ecosystem rather than in Silicon Valley, points to a strategic shift: Meta is betting that Shah’s deep understanding of Indian consumer psychology and digital payments is the key to unlocking WhatsApp’s vast, unharvested potential for commerce and financial services .
The Super-App Vision and the Payments Problem
The concept of the super-app is simple, but its execution has eluded many players. It is a one-stop digital platform where users can communicate, pay bills, book travel, order food, shop, and access financial services, eliminating the need for multiple standalone apps . In China, WeChat is the dominant model, while GoTo and Grab have succeeded in Southeast Asia . India, despite its massive internet user base, has not yet produced a homegrown super-app. Large conglomerates like Tata, Jio, and Adani have tried and failed .
WhatsApp, however, may be better positioned than its rivals. With more than 500 million users in India, its largest market, it has an unparalleled reach and deep integration into daily life . Yet, as one industry executive put it, the “leg which is broken is payments” . Despite its enormous user base, WhatsApp Pay remains a marginal player, capturing only a tiny fraction of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, trailing far behind PhonePe and Google Pay . This is the challenge Shah inherits: how to turn a massive user base from passive users of a free communication tool into active customers of a commerce and financial services platform.
Why Kunal Shah?
Kunal Shah is not the typical Silicon Valley executive. He studied philosophy in Mumbai and dropped out of a management course . His journey started with FreeCharge, a mobile recharge platform sold to Snapdeal for $400 million . He then built CRED, a premium fintech platform that rewards users for paying credit card bills on time . The company processes more than 40% of India’s credit card bill payments and has expanded into lending, insurance, and wealth management .
Mark Zuckerberg praised Shah’s “builder mentality and global perspective,” while Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox noted that Shah had an “intuitive grasp of the immense, global product potential for WhatsApp” . His strength, observers argue, lies in his “incredible non-obvious insights into consumer psychology,” a trait that likely stems from his philosophy background . As one investor noted, “What sets Kunal apart is a rare ability to bring a product lens to regulatory complexity, and a regulatory lens to product design” .
The Challenge: From the Top 1% to the Mass Market
Shah’s success with CRED was built on serving a niche: India’s most creditworthy, high-spending consumers—the top 1% of the pyramid. His challenge at WhatsApp is the opposite: to empower the hundreds of millions in the “middle of the pyramid.” He must replicate the engagement and utility of CRED for a mass-market audience, without abusing the trust of the users.
This shift from a premium, niche offering to a mass-market platform is the ultimate test for Shah and Meta. His ability to navigate India’s complex regulatory environment, build trust with users, and create a fair and engaging platform while respecting the new Personal Data Protection Act will determine whether WhatsApp can finally become the super-app that has long eluded Meta. Meta and Shah will need to work fast. As one industry observer noted, “If you look at where WhatsApp is right now, they are in a league of their own as far as messaging is concerned… but the leg which is broken is payments” .
Q&A
Q1: Why did Meta choose Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp?
A1: Meta chose Kunal Shah for his deep understanding of Indian consumer behavior, his success in building consumer-facing digital payments products from scratch, and his “builder mentality.” He has a unique perspective that comes from a background in philosophy rather than a traditional engineering or management path, which is more common among Indian tech executives .
Q2: What is a “super-app,” and why does Meta want to build one?
A2: A super-app is a single digital platform where users can perform a wide range of daily tasks, such as messaging, making payments, booking travel, ordering food, and shopping. Meta wants to build a super-app because WhatsApp’s massive user base is currently “undermonetized.” By adding commerce and financial services, Meta can generate significant new revenue streams .
Q3: What is WhatsApp Pay’s current market position in India?
A3: WhatsApp Pay, despite India being WhatsApp’s largest market with over 500 million users, is a marginal player in India’s UPI payments market. It processes more than 150 million monthly UPI transactions, capturing around 0.65% market share, far behind leaders PhonePe and Google Pay, which together account for nearly 79% of UPI transactions .
Q4: What is the biggest challenge Kunal Shah will face at WhatsApp?
A4: The biggest challenge is that Shah has to shift his focus from serving a premium, niche audience of creditworthy consumers (the “top 1%”) that he built CRED around, to empowering the mass market—the hundreds of millions of users in the “middle of the pyramid.” This requires a fundamentally different product, engagement, and trust-building strategy .
Q5: What was the significance of the $900 million investment in CRED?
A5: The $900 million investment is significant for two reasons. First, it signals that Meta has a strong financial stake in Shah’s success and is willing to back him with Meta’s resources to build a super-app. Second, it gives Meta a minority stake in CRED, a strategic investment that aligns the interests of the two companies and provides Meta with a deeper understanding of India’s most financially active consumer segments .
The Passport Paradox: What It Means When Your Most Trusted Document Is Not Proof of Citizenship
On June 24, 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) did something that, to millions of Indians, seemed to undermine the very foundation of their identity. At an event marking the 14th Passport Seva Divas, a senior official clarified that an Indian passport is “primarily a travel document” and should not be treated as “conclusive proof of citizenship” . Within hours, the statement had ignited a firestorm. Opposition leaders demanded answers. Lyricist Javed Akhtar called it “absurd” . Overseas Indians, who had carried their passports as their most trusted identity for decades, wondered what document they could now rely on . And the question that echoed across social media and newsrooms was simple but devastating: if a passport is not proof of citizenship, what is?
The Legal Reality That Was Always True
The MEA’s clarification was not a policy change. It was a statement of a legal fact that has existed for decades . The Passports Act, 1967, which governs the issuance of passports, is a different piece of legislation from the Citizenship Act, 1955, which governs who is an Indian citizen . One regulates a document; the other regulates a legal status.
More significantly, Section 20 of the Passports Act empowers the Central Government to issue a passport or travel document to a person who is not an Indian citizen if it is considered “necessary in the public interest” . This provision has historically been used for stateless persons like Tibetan refugees and Sri Lankan Tamils who needed to travel abroad . The law itself, therefore, recognizes that possession of a passport cannot, by definition, be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship .
The legal position has also been upheld by the courts. A 2013 Bombay High Court judgment held that documents like passports, Aadhaar cards, and birth certificates are important evidence, but they do not amount to “conclusive” or “definitive” proof of citizenship . The Supreme Court has also distinguished between identity documents and proof of citizenship in various cases, noting that Aadhaar, voter IDs, and PAN cards serve specific purposes but do not by themselves determine citizenship .
The Distinction: Evidence vs. Legal Determination
The distinction lost in the public debate is the difference between evidence and legal determination. A passport does not create citizenship, nor does it constitute the legal source from which citizenship flows. Rather, it is issued because the Government of India has already satisfied itself that the applicant is entitled to receive one . In ordinary administrative life, it is accepted almost universally as evidence that the holder is an Indian citizen. Banks, universities, employers, embassies, and government agencies routinely rely upon it for that reason.
But when citizenship itself becomes the subject of litigation or administrative challenge, the legal inquiry necessarily extends beyond the passport. Courts examine the Citizenship Act provisions and the documentary basis upon which citizenship is claimed. A passport may be highly persuasive evidence, but it is not legally conclusive in every conceivable circumstance . This distinction is hardly unique to India. Most democracies separate nationality law from passport law.
The Deeper Issue: India’s Documentary Gap
The controversy exposed a deeper and more fundamental issue: India does not issue a universal citizenship certificate for all its citizens. Certification of citizenship is limited to those who acquire it through registration or naturalisation under Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act . For the overwhelming majority of Indians who are citizens by birth, there is no single document that unequivocally proves their citizenship.
India’s civil registration system evolved unevenly. Universal birth registration is a relatively recent phenomenon. For millions of older Indians, citizenship has traditionally been inferred from a combination of records—electoral rolls, school certificates, land records, birth certificates, passports, and other government documents—rather than through a single definitive credential . Families found themselves navigating decades-old records that were incomplete, inconsistent, or missing. Minor discrepancies in spelling or dates assumed disproportionate significance. Elderly citizens who had voted for decades were required to establish documentary continuity stretching back generations.
What Actually Proves Citizenship?
The question “then what is proof of citizenship?” has no single answer. Legally, the most definitive proof is a Certificate of Naturalisation or Certificate of Registration, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Citizenship Act, 1955 . These are granted to foreign nationals or persons of Indian origin who acquire citizenship through the statutory process.
For citizens by birth, the answer is more complex. According to the Citizenship Act, 1955, citizenship is determined by the circumstances of birth :
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Born in India between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987: A birth certificate alone is absolute proof, as citizenship was granted solely by birth on Indian soil.
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Born between 1 July 1987 and 3 December 2004: The birth certificate must be accompanied by proof that at least one parent was an Indian citizen at the time of birth.
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Born after 3 December 2004: The birth certificate must be corroborated by evidence that both parents were Indian citizens, or that one parent was a citizen and the other was not an illegal migrant.
For those who cannot produce these documents, establishing citizenship may require a chain of historical records—parents’ citizenship records, school records, electoral roll entries, government service records, land and residence records—that satisfy the chronological conditions of the Citizenship Act .
The Way Forward: Clarity and Empathy
The government’s position is legally correct, but legal correctness is not always sufficient as public communication. For generations, the passport has occupied a unique place in the hierarchy of official documents. To tell citizens, without further explanation, that it is “not proof of citizenship” was bound to provoke an obvious question: then what is?
As former law secretary P.K. Malhotra noted, since courts have specifically ruled that Aadhaar, voter ID, ration card, and other documents prove only identity and are not conclusive evidence of citizenship, it is “high time the government came up with a document which conclusively proves Indian citizenship” . Such a document would “obviate the fear in the minds of citizens about harassment by certain public authorities” .
The experience of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam brought these realities into sharp relief, demonstrating that the documentary challenge is not a failure of passport administration but a symptom of the much larger challenge of documenting citizenship in a country of India’s size, complexity, and diversity . That challenge deserves serious public attention and a comprehensive solution.
In constitutional democracies, citizenship is not merely a legal category. It is the foundation of rights, duties, and belonging. Documents issued by the state carry emotional significance because they embody recognition by the political community. When governments speak about them, precision is essential. But so, too, is empathy for how ordinary people understand official language. Technical correctness should never become a substitute for effective communication.
Q&A
Q1: Did the MEA announce a new policy on passports and citizenship in June 2026?
A1: No. The MEA’s clarification was not a new policy but a reiteration of a long-standing legal position. Official sources confirmed that the statement was merely a reiteration of what has been followed for decades. “It was not decided yesterday that a passport is not proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. The passport has never been a proof of citizenship,” an official said .
Q2: Why is a passport not considered conclusive proof of citizenship under Indian law?
A2: There are two primary reasons. First, Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967, allows the government to issue passports to non-citizens in exceptional cases (such as stateless persons) . Second, courts have ruled that citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act, 1955, based on birth, parentage, or naturalisation, and a passport, while strong evidence, does not override a legal challenge to citizenship status .
Q3: What documents are considered definitive proof of Indian citizenship?
A3: The most definitive proof is a Certificate of Naturalisation or Certificate of Registration issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to those who acquire citizenship through Sections 5 and 6 of the Citizenship Act . For citizens by birth, a birth certificate is foundational, but its legal value depends on the year of birth: for those born before 1987, it alone proves citizenship; for those born after, it must be supported by proof of parents’ citizenship . Courts typically examine a combination of records when citizenship is disputed .
Q4: Why doesn’t India issue a universal citizenship certificate?
A4: India does not issue a universal citizenship certificate. Certification is limited to those who acquire citizenship through registration or naturalisation. For citizens by birth, citizenship is inferred from a combination of records rather than a single credential. India’s civil registration system evolved unevenly, and universal birth registration is a relatively recent phenomenon .
Q5: What was the political reaction to the MEA’s clarification?
A5: The clarification triggered sharp criticism from opposition leaders. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal questioned what document citizens could rely on, warning that such interpretations could affect voting rights . AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a swipe at the government, suggesting that by 2030, only one document—a BJP card—would be proof of citizenship . Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar called the argument “absurd” . Overseas Indians expressed confusion, with one long-time expatriate asking, “What are we supposed to carry with us?”
Why India Should Chill with Chile: A Strategic Partnership for the Critical Mineral Age
As the world accelerates towards a future powered by electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and vast data centres, the battle for critical minerals has become the defining geopolitical contest of the 21st century. For India, a nation with ambitious climate goals and a rapidly digitizing economy, securing a reliable and sustainable supply of resources like lithium and copper is not just an economic necessity but a cornerstone of its strategic autonomy.
Enter Chile. This slender, stable nation on the western edge of South America is not merely a distant friend; it is the world’s second-largest producer of lithium, holds the globe’s largest reserves of the “white gold,” and is a behemoth in copper production . As India and Chile enter the decisive leg of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the case for a deep and enduring partnership has never been stronger .
Critical Minerals: The Foundation of a Future-Ready India
India’s economic ambitions are built on a foundation of critical minerals. The country currently imports 100% of its lithium, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems . As India expands its semiconductor industry, builds data centres to fuel its AI revolution, and transitions to a green economy, the demand for these minerals will skyrocket . According to Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, the AI revolution will have a much greater impact on the global economy than many anticipate, drastically increasing the demand for copper—an essential component for electrification and data transmission .
Chile offers a solution. The country holds over 20% of the world’s copper reserves and approximately 30% of global lithium reserves . A partnership with Chile is not just about extraction; it is about securing long-term supply chains and integrating value chains for the products that will power the future . India is seeking favourable, long-term access to critical mineral exploration blocks to secure its supply chains for EVs and advanced electronics . In turn, Chile is looking for partners who can help create a long-term value chain, moving beyond mere extraction to processing, technology partnerships, and joint ventures .
Beyond Mining: A Gateway to the Western Hemisphere
Chile’s appeal extends far beyond its mineral wealth. It is one of the most commercially integrated nations on the planet, with a network of 36 trade agreements spanning 66 economies and covering over 80% of global GDP . This makes Chile a secure and reliable gateway for Indian companies, products, and services seeking to penetrate markets across the western hemisphere—a region where Chile shares the same time zone with all major economies .
The country’s “Chile” slogan is a testament to its ambition . It offers a stable rule of law, a developed banking system, low country risk, and a no-hassle repatriation of capital or dividends . For Indian investors, these are not just buzzwords but concrete assurances that make Chile an excellent alternative for investment.
The CEPA: A Two-Way Street
The India-Chile CEPA, currently under negotiation, is designed to build upon an existing Preferential Trade Agreement and unlock the full potential of the bilateral relationship . With four rounds of talks already completed and both sides aiming to conclude the agreement this year, the momentum is palpable . Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed optimism that a deal could be finalised if both sides can structure a mutually beneficial arrangement on critical minerals .
Key Pillars of the Partnership:
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Critical Minerals: Securing India’s supply of lithium and copper to drive its green transition and tech sector .
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Investment and Technology: Chile is keen to attract Indian investment in its mining sector and to benefit from India’s vast pool of skilled engineers to help build its burgeoning tech ecosystem, positioning itself as the “Silicon Valley of South America” .
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Trade Integration: Leveraging Chile’s extensive FTA network to provide Indian businesses with a strategic launchpad into the Americas .
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Human Capital: Chile sees India’s qualified human capital as a potential driver of its own innovation clusters .
The “Chill” Factor: A Shared Vision for Stability
Chile’s political and economic stability is a key asset in a world of growing uncertainty. With one of the highest per capita incomes in the Latin American region and a consistent record of open economic policies, Chile provides a stark contrast to the volatility often associated with other resource-rich nations . As the new Chilean Foreign Minister noted, “India should have a very important role in being a great partner, both for the present in terms of goods and services, but also for the future in terms of tech” .
For India, “Chilling with Chile” is not about a one-way extraction of resources. It is about building a resilient, long-term partnership that can withstand geopolitical shocks, diversify supply chains, and create mutual prosperity.
Q&A
Q1: Why are critical minerals like lithium and copper so important for India?
A1: Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, essential for India’s green transition. Copper is fundamental for electrification, data transmission, and the infrastructure needed for AI and data centres. India currently imports 100% of its lithium, making secure supply chains a strategic imperative.
Q2: What is the status of the India-Chile CEPA negotiations?
A2: The negotiations are in their decisive leg, with four rounds already completed. India and Chile are aiming to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2026, building upon the existing Preferential Trade Agreement. The focus is on creating a balanced, forward-looking agreement covering goods, services, and investment.
Q3: How can Chile serve as a “gateway” for Indian businesses?
A3: Chile has one of the world’s most extensive networks of trade agreements, covering over 80% of global GDP. This network allows Indian companies to use Chile as a strategic hub to export their products and services to markets across the Americas and the Pacific region with reduced tariffs and easier access.
Q4: What does Chile offer beyond minerals?
A4: Chile offers a stable and open economy, a solid rule of law, a developed banking system, and a new business-friendly visa system. The country is also investing in innovation and digital infrastructure, actively seeking to attract Indian talent and investment in its growing technology sector, positioning itself as the “Silicon Valley of South America.”
Q5: What is the primary challenge in finalising the CEPA?
A5: The primary challenge is structuring a mutually beneficial arrangement on critical minerals, including ensuring long-term access to mining concessions and exploration blocks for Indian companies. Both sides are working to find “innovative solutions” that balance India’s need for supply security with Chile’s goal of developing a long-term value chain and attracting investment.
