Salahuddin believes that his home, America, provides the opportunity to bridge the divide left by a brutal Partition, ongoing Hindu-Muslim tensions, and the continual conflict between India and Pakistan.
India’s strength lies in its civilizational diversity, its age-old tradition of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (where the world is seen as one family) and no attempt to paint with a monochromatic brush can bring the real Indian canvas to life. Zohran Mamdani’s ideas – plural, liberal and invaluable – resonate with the core of a new India and make him stand out as a leader worth celebrating.
As friends, colleagues, mentees, and admirers gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to celebrate her 80th birthday in November 2025, what became clear was that the accolades tell only part of the story and don’t explain why a roomful of people from across the world came to honour her.
The exhibition also sits in conversation with an earlier project co-curated by Hashmi and Walia, exploring the creative and political possibilities of South Asia through art and film. That curatorial lineage expands the meaning of this library project, situating it within a broader feminist and regional tradition of asking uncomfortable questions.
Mamdani represents a different era — one less interested in fitting in, and more in standing firm. Obama deflected when his middle name became a slur in the mouths of opponents. Mamdani pronounces his own name slowly until others get it right. Obama avoided being read through a Muslim lens. Mamdani says being Muslim, African-born, and South Asian is the story — not a liability.
On the contribution of Hinduism, the resolution said, “Yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, food, music, arts, and more have enriched the cultural fabric and have been widely adopted in American society and enriched the lives of millions”.
Tata was recognized as the 74th recipient of the Hoover Medal in a private award ceremony in January at Somerset House in Mumbai.
But there is also a point of potential friction in ties with India: the human rights issues as perceived by some in the US, which is a touchy issue for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At that hearing, Garcetti said, “Respect for human rights and strong democratic institutions are key elements of our strategic partnership and values enshrined in our constitutions, and if confirmed, I will engage closely and regularly with the Indian government on these issues”.
In Lahore, Pyatt will visit the Lahore University of Management Sciences' Electric Vehicle Labs to highlight technological advances made through US-Pakistan cooperation.
“The expanded military postures by both India and China along the disputed border elevate the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests, and calls for US intervention,” it said.
Ajaypal Singh Banga, whose turban marked his Sikhism in gatherings of the highest echelons of US and international business, was born in Pune in western India to a family that has roots in Jalandhar in Punjab. He received his bachelor’s degree from St Stephens College, Delhi and a postgraduate qualification in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He had worked for Nestle, PepsiCo and CitiBank before landing at MasterCard, where he worked his way up from chief operating officer, to president and chief executive officer, and finally to executive chairman.
India has lampooned Pakistan as having a “Pavlovian response” for raising Kashmir regardless of the topic under discussion at the UN.
Caste discrimination as a cultural and social phenomenon is practised in India and other countries, even beyond South Asia, by members of many religions, including Christianity and Islam.
A sign of the growing political involvement of Indian Americans is that in the 2020 general elections over 300 from the community ran for city, state and federal offices, Rangaswami said.
The index also cited what it asserted was India’s “displacement by the United States and China as a top investor and trade partner for several South Asian neighbours in recent years”.It noted that the US displaced “India as a top investor in two South Asian economies: Bangladesh and Nepal”. Pakistan ranks 15 on the Index, Bangladesh 19, Sri Lanka 21, and Nepal 25.
During her visit to Pakistan, she had gone close to the Line of Control and complained that Kashmir was not “being talked about to the extent it needs to in Congress but also with the administration”.
Although the US and India have been drawing closer together, India's apparent neutrality in the Ukraine war and its continued purchase of oil from Russia remains a sticking point, although Washington's diplomats gloss over it.
Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who immigrated to the US as a child, drew national attention when she said a Sikh prayer at the opening of a session of the Republican National Convention in 2016 – the first time a non-Abrahamic religion figured in a national party convention. Her Sikh religion has come up in the campaign for the chair with accusations that there has been a whispering campaign about her faith.
India has been diversifying its defence sourcing and purchases from the US have increased ten-fold between 2016 and 2021, according to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute.