On a recent visit to a swanky GCC of a global giant in Bangalore we learned that most of those offices don't get piped water, making us realise that the city had deeper issues than the infamous traffic snarls. So Chris Kay & I wrote an Financial Times Big Read. ft.com/content/c3ff04…

Fascinating essay on Bangalore and its struggles to provide 21st century infrastructure to manage the city’s tech boom.

US tariffs on India hit 50% as Donald Trump-Narendra Modi ties sour. “Trump is trying to get at Putin and India is a soft target to do so,” says Ashok Malik | on.ft.com/4oWpwpt w/Andres Schipani Aime Williams

Inside India’s endless trials on.ft.com/3UQM8tT | opinion

India taps homegrown digital payments network to widen access to credit on.ft.com/45EKyl3

‘Massive’ oil reserves? Trump baffles Pakistanis, who have mocked his claims and shared images of oil-filled cauldrons used to cook fatty samosas, suggesting the US president may have confused lipids for fossil fuels - on.ft.com/4pfUBVB via Humza Jilani Malcolm Moore

India taps homegrown digital payments network to widen access to credit Chris Kay Patrick Jenkins Krishn Kaushik ft.com/content/958b0c… via @ft

Can Building Forests Make Cities More Livable? In my latest for The New York Times, I tell the story of Vijayapura, a historic district in India that is building forests from scratch. nytimes.com/card/2025/09/0…

Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again relationship with Narendra Modi and Apple’s new phone and what that means for India, in this newsletter by ⁦Chris Kay⁩ via Financial Times on.ft.com/42is4EM

“…Mansfield and Alcis estimated that the total area under cultivation during Pakistan’s 2025 harvest, including in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, was in the tens of thousands of hectares…” writes Humza Jilani for the Financial Times. How is it that there’s as much opium being

Trump’s H-1B visa turmoil threatens Indians’ American dream. “This is going to crash the number of foreign students applying to the US. They’re going to be saddled with astronomical student loans and no way to work in the US” | ft.com/content/0f8429… w/Andres Schipani Krishn Kaushik

Me via Financial Times: “The timing of Trump’s H1-B visa proclamation is extremely poor as both nations try to reset ties following several tension-filled months.” Also me: “India could have a labour surplus problem on its hands in the coming years.” ft.com/content/0f8429…

India’s polo-playing steel tycoon behind bid for Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit via Financial Times ⁦Chris Kay⁩ ⁦Sebastien Ash⁩ on.ft.com/42dMT4m

India’s TVS is preparing to relaunch the classic British Norton motorbike brand to help it expand in the US. “The old Norton, they were just trying to make it work in a garage,” TVS head Venu tells Financial Times. “We are really re-creating [it] as a global brand.” ft.com/content/800d34…

Breaking 🚨 Financial Times story by Alec Russell & Humza Jilani, “Pakistan courts US with pitch for new Arabian Sea port” Wonder how will the Chinese and Iranians perceive the “audacious plan”, that “envisages American investors developing the seaside fishing town of Pasni just 100 miles

Today's Financial Times Big Read: China’s charm offensive in India’s backyard. “There is an alignment of adversarial powers around India,” says Sushant Singh. “And India is right to be concerned about it” | on.ft.com/3VQEPTC Joe Leahy Andres Schipani Humza Jilani John Reed

“I think it is India’s mindset to want to keep south Asia as India’s own backyard, as India’s sphere of influence,” Lin says. But “China’s rise . . . has really been a good opportunity for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Nepal”, he adds...to develop closer economic relations with China.”

While EM stocks roar back with biggest rally in 15 years, India has been a high-profile laggard. That's partly because prices had already risen to make them almost as expensive as US stocks, just as earnings have fallen short of expectations | on.ft.com/3IBBYLg Joseph Cotterill

Electric scooter makers find opportunity on India’s clogged streets - on.ft.com/3KCRXct via Financial Times

Tata “fighting multiple fires” after cyber attacks, boardroom splits. “Issues are coming from the operational level . . . but there’s also stuff coming from the top with the disagreement between Noel Tata and some of the other trustees” | on.ft.com/4ofUA2p w/Krishn Kaushik