australia – Into India

Young Indian Australians are our most switched on and connected generation

Recent data shows Australia now has a one million Indian-born community.

For perspective – this growth lifts India above England as Australia’s top overseas country of birth for the first time.

It gets bigger.

There are over 35 million “overseas Indians” living across more than 200 countries according to the Indian government.

Now, through a global movement called “Indiaspora”, Australian Indians can be super connected around the world with these fellow Indian migrants.

No other migration group globally has these numbers and this reach.

A report released in March by Indiaspora found the number of overseas Indians has tripled since 1990.

But the story is not just the number of people.

Overseas Indians have enormous financial clout. Indiaspora estimates the diaspora earns a combined US$730 billion ($1,030 billion) a year, not including business income, stock options, and property holdings.

Indian-origin leaders permeate the highest levels of global corporations, especially in the technology sector.

Indiaspora’s Australia country head, Jai Patel, a good friend and leader of Australia-India business and investment, who also leads KPMG’s India Business Practice, speaks enthusiastically about harnessing the knowledge and experience of “leading lights across India’s global diaspora”.

“Australia’s diaspora provides connections not just to India but to the global diaspora in many other parts of the world,” says Patel. “There is a huge opportunity for us to plug into that.”

Exciting for Australia – but it might take time to reach full potential.

Australia’s Indian diaspora is the “new kid on the block” – Indians have a much longer heritage in countries like the US, Britain and Canada.

With this new generation of switched on Indians, I am sure we will get there.

It could change Australia’s connectivity globally.

Matt Wade, a veteran of good reporting about India, wrote an outstanding analysis for The Age – READ MORE HERE:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/young-smart-driven-the-dynamic-global-movement-growing-in-power-and-influence-20260422-p5zq4b.html

To succeed in Asia, you have to trade the “I” for the “Us” – a David Thomas cross cultural insight

INTO INDIA has consistently called for greater cross-cultural preparation for Aussie firms going into India (and Asia). Here is an absolute gem on this topic.

Read on from DAVID THOMAS…

From an early age, I was taught that the squeaky door is the one that gets the oil. This is typical western thinking. We’re raised to be soloists – standing out, grabbing the spotlight, speaking with confidence and getting the deal done in record time (preferably before lunchtime!).

But as soon as you step into Asia, you realise that the squeaky door doesn’t get greased – it gets replaced. The “We” reigns supreme. It’s a collective world where harmony and trusted relationships are the engine of commerce.

While a Westerner is busy trying to be the “disruptor,” the local players are busy building consensus. If you push too hard or make someone “lose face” just to prove a point, you haven’t won a negotiation – you’ve closed a door forever. I’ve seen this happen myself and it often comes as a surprise (until you’ve thought really hard about what happened).

In an individualistic culture, the contract is the start of the relationship. Here in Asia, the relationship IS the contract.

It’s the same principle as that left-hand turn in local traffic; it only works because everyone is subconsciously looking out for the group as a whole. If everyone drove with a “Me first” attitude, the whole city would grind to a halt.

To succeed in Asia, you have to trade the “I” for the “Us”. You have to learn that fitting into the rhythm is far more powerful than trying to beat the drum yourself. And just like navigating those chaotic streets, you certainly won’t feel that pulse from a distance!

REACH OUT TO DAVID – davidthomas@thinkglobal.com.au

Will 2026 be the year of “Australia’s Strategic India Shift”?

For decades Australia has talked about the growing importance of India – while in reality putting all its energy into relations with China and the USA.

2026 could be the year of the big shift to India.

As my good friend Mugunthan Siva, CEO of India Avenue Investment Management, points out – “For Australia, the implications are clear. India is not simply a fast‑growing market; it is a strategic partner.”

A new strategic relationship is emerging — one built on complementary strengths, shared economic interests, and long‑term structural alignment. India is becoming increasingly significant for Australia, and the shift is now being reinforced at the policy level.

What is the evidence?

As of January 2026, Australia will scrap tariffs on all Indian exports – this is the outcome of the India-Australia Economic and Trade Agreement (ECTA). Siva believes this is not just a symbolic gesture – “It is a structural reset”.

In the past both countries have really seen each other as short term “transactional” targets. Now we shift in 2026 to long term economic partners.

Mugunthan Siva says: “For Australia, it opens the door to deeper integration with the world’s fastest‑growing major economy. For India, it strengthens access to a stable, high‑income market with strong demand for services, resources, and education.”

Why is this so strategic?

We love the growth story of India, but in 2026 our relations could become a “strategic story”, powered by four engines from the India side – demographics, digitisation, financialisation and formalisation.

Maybe this time it really is “happy new year” for India and Australia.

With a World Cup cricket win, the lives of young girls in India are changing

A game such as cricket can change our society, and this is surely the case for girls and young women growing up in India.

The Indian women’s cricket team won their first World Cup, playing to a sold-out suburban Mumbai stadium of 45,000-seat capacity and drawing over 300 million views online.

Can you imagine how many girls are now dreaming of a sporting future?

In India, this win means women’s cricket is now standing on its own merit, and there will be millions of young women turning up to play the game – which in itself is a social change.

Advertising and sponsorships will flood in for this team.

But the powerful BCCI, India’s cricket governing body, must increase women’s tournaments so they have more game time and add Women’s Premier League teams to absorb new talent. Demand for local coaching and equipment will explode – and the BCCI needs to step up.

Change from the BCCI has been slow – for example, this week the board announced a bonus of 510 million rupees for the women’s team, less than half the 1.25 billion rupees it gave to the men’s team when they won the T20 World Cup last year.

They cannot ignore the level of “love of the game” among Indian women and cricket fans around the world.

Let’s hope for an India vs Australia final for the next women’s world cup!

Does Australia need to have a public holiday for Diwali?

As the Indian diaspora continues to grow in Australia, you can see Indian culture such as Diwali having a big impact in communities across the nation.

Australia is home to a rapidly expanding Indian community.

According to an MEA report, approximately 1 million Overseas Indians live in Australia. The Indian diaspora is the second-largest and fastest-growing in Australia. As of September 2023, there are 122,391 Indian students, making them the second-largest group of foreign-born students in the nation.

Meanwhile, in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 268 into law, putting Diwali on the list of 12 state holidays. The new law, which will go into effect next year, allows community colleges and public schools to close on Diwali, and state government employees can choose to take the day off.

Diwali is such a charming and engaging event – and celebrates the triumph of light over dark, good over evil – it is an uplifting message for our times.

INTO INDIA would love to hear from you – do we need a public holiday for Diwali?

India relies on a friendly USA for progress and peace – but Trump is making this difficult

INTO INDIA last month asked this question – can the USA-India releationship survive President Trump?

This month the answer is even less certain.

New Delhi has some fears on this front – knowing that India’s growing economy and innovation needs a friendly USA. Even more so, the India-USA relationship is a key to ensuring an Asia NOT dominated by China.

India wants agreement with the USA.

Without some effort from Washington, India will just have to find new relationships to secure its position in Asia.

If India and the United States become more distant to each other, both would have a weaker hand to play when it comes to China.

India is anxious to reduce its reliance on China as a source of supply and also its reliance on the USA as a source of demand.

Trump is softening his approach to China while he goes harder on India.

There are serious levels of concern in New Delhi about this.

First, the China border problem continues to fester.

Second, both the USA and China are moving closer to Pakistan = which is also a volatile border for India.

Corporate India seems to have made up its mind – several of India’s largest corporations are seeking a presence or partnerships in China.

But political India continues to look for new friends.

Can the India-USA relationship survive President Trump?

We have just had 25 years of India and the USA gradually getting closer together.

But claims from US commentators that the two countries have “shared values” and “shared interests” have shown that they miss the point about India.

In the last 25 years India has been engaging with “the world” and has seen the USA as just one among many – it is today, for example, much closer than ever to countries like China, Japan and Russia.

When India joined the “Quad” (USA, Japan, India and Australia) it was celebrated in the USA (and to some extent Australia) as if India had “changed sides”. It had done no such thing.

In fact, within one week of attending a recent Quad meeting, Indian PM Narendra Modi was also high profile at the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation – the world’s largest regional organisation in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 24% of the world’s total area and 42% of the world population.

At heart, this misunderstanding arises from the dramatic differences in world view of the USA and India. The USA and many of its partners see you as being on their side or against them. India, by contrast, takes a more universal view and sees many polarities, many arrangements and alternatives.

In addition, India is not generally evangelical on “democracy” and certainly does not see its mission as imposing democracy on others. It tends to accept others as they are.

Today India faces a 50% tariff from the USA, imposed, it is said, because India continues to buy oil from Russia, which is at war with Ukraine.

On this and other issues with the USA, India takes a quiet non-confronting line – understanding that anger is unlikely to work where reason has failed.

India’s favored policy of “Mult alignment”—seeking friends everywhere while refusing to forge clear single country alliances – is aggravating and confusing to Washington but is an obvious outcome of the Indian world view.

INTO INDIA predicts that the Indian response to Trump’s tariffs and rough tactics will lead to India seeking more diverse trade relationships and to be even more active in building multi alignments.

It’s just a matter of how you see the world.

What do you think?

Beyond the Hype: My Take on Navigating AI with Clarity

This is INTO INDIA with a difference – in this blog I am handing over to my friend Vinay Sarawagi who has written the clearest summary of how you should proceed with AI. Vinay is the Founder, The Media GCC | Mindful Media l AI Trust and Safety and is a former Senior Vice President – Digital at The Times Group.

READ HIS REPORT ON “BEYOND THE HYPE”:

Artificial intelligence is the most transformative tech of the century. This doesn’t change another fact: we’re in a hype cycle. Snake oil is being sold in AI’s name.

The Big Tech Reality Check

Organizations and governments are overwhelmed by AI. Smart money sticks to first principles.

Watch what organisations like Apple and Google do. When they slow certain AI implementations, despite hundreds of billions in revenue at stake, it tells you something critical. The technology shows bright sparks. It’s not there yet.

This isn’t about legacy companies being outpaced by emerging tech. Google has done more AI research than most universities combined. These companies aren’t behind the curve. They’re mindful of the gap.

When an AI startup claims breakthrough capabilities that Apple, Google, or Microsoft can’t match, take it with a bucket of salt. These tech giants possess both the expertise and cash reserves, running into hundreds of billions, to acquire any capability they lack.

First Principles in an Age of Disruption

Stop panicking. Avoid emotional responses that swing between overwhelming fear and outright denial.

Two priorities matter: educate yourself your teams on AI’s capabilities and limitations. Stick to your business fundamentals.

Market Psychology and the Innovation Cycle

Markets behave like human psychology. A decade ago, predicting a tech that could replace half of all jobs within 2-3 decades would have seemed absurd. Most believed fundamental innovations were complete. Only incremental progress remained possible.

Then ChatGPT arrived. A public-facing tool that gave everyone a glimpse into generative AI’s power. BOOM! Gold rush mentality.

Markets respond with boom and bust cycles. This process rediscovers the new normal. The challenge: distinguishing hype from real potential while living through it.

This requires a multi-dimensional approach. Grounded, pragmatic, sharp, incisive, data-driven. Also lateral and far-reaching. Finding the sweet spot demands all these perspectives simultaneously.

Separating Signal from Noise

AI will redefine everything we know about our world. True statement.

Today, a lot of AI marketing is snake oil. Also true.

Develop filters. Differentiate real capability from hype. Know what’s right for your business adoption strategy. Always return to first principles.

Strategic Implementation Framework

One week of data can blind you. One month isn’t much better. Long-term data matters. Qualitative benchmarks matter too.

When trillion dollar tech giants proceed cautiously, pay attention. Their restraint reflects deep understanding of current boundaries, not innovation failure.

The future belongs to those who harness AI’s power while avoiding its pitfalls.

vinay@thegcc.media

Things are changing fast in this world as India rises

You could say it has truly become a “funny world”.

Now we hear that one of the world’s leading quality car makers – Japan – is in the top five export destinations for Made-in-India cars.

Key exporters include Suzuki Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company’s local units, which are increasingly positioning India as a production hub.

According to commerce ministry data collated by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), vehicle shipments to Japan rose to US$ 616.45 million in the first nine months of FY25.

Maruti Suzuki began exporting its Jimny Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) to Japan in January, signaling an acceleration of this trend.

Honda Cars India exported 45,167 units of its Elevate SUV, mainly to Japan, more than double its domestic sales.

Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx and Jimny SUVs are also available in Japan, with the Jimny generating around 50,000 orders within four days of launch.

Yamaha plans to export premium motorcycles to Japan, leveraging India’s lower sourcing and labour costs.

While my thought was “funny world” – my considered reflection was “well done India for entering one of the world’s toughest and highest quality markets”.

Growth in “sports culture” part of India’s push of soft power and hopes of hosting the 2036 Olympics

Now Indian PM Modi is chasing an Olympic Games for India

Sport is on the mind of the Government of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

No doubt the next election he and the BJP face will have a big sports focus.

And words are being backed up by action – the Indian Government has a US$474 million sports budget this year.

PM Modi has always been ambitious for India – and his spending will create a sporting infrastructure boost to underpin the India push to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

A future Olympic Games could capture the minds and pride of Indians everywhere, including the large Indian diaspora here in Australia.

PM Modi recently stated that India’s soft power will grow with the development of a sports culture. Speaking at the inauguration of the Khelo India Youth Games, he highlighted the government’s focus on modernising sports infrastructure with the goal of hosting the 2036 Olympic Games.

A significant portion of the US$ 474 million sports budget for the year is being allocated to this purpose.

India has submitted a Letter of Intent to the International Olympic Committee to host the Games and is competing with countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia and Chile for the hosting rights.

The sports budget has increased more than threefold in the past decade, with over 1,000 Khelo India centres now operating across the country, including more than three dozen in Bihar.

Australia has been doing well via cricket – opening new training facilities and programs in India and chasing other collaborations.

PM Modi’s big sports spend shows the timing is good for all areas of sports in Australia to get over to India and actively participate in this growing sector.