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I too heard Rajiv Malhotra talk about "in-kind-investment" rather than "cash investment" which India does not have. E.g., India could provide labor and share the labor costs in return for some equity in the Gulf projects mentioned below.
An AI summary:
Multiple Gulf states are pursuing major AI partnerships with the United States, including investments in AI centers within their own borders and reciprocal investments in U.S. AI infrastructure. Key players in these partnerships include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, with involvement from U.S. tech giants such as Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Oracle.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Massive AI campus: The UAE and the U.S. announced a joint initiative in May 2025 to build a 5-gigawatt AI campus in Abu Dhabi, which is planned to be the largest outside of the U.S..
This campus will be built by the Emirati state-linked tech firm G42 and operated in partnership with U.S. firms like OpenAI, Oracle, and Nvidia.
It will serve the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia markets.
Reciprocal investment: As part of the agreement, the UAE has committed to investing in U.S.-based AI infrastructure. In January 2025, G42 and other partners committed $500 billion to the U.S.-based Stargate project.
Strategic U.S. partnerships:
Microsoft and G42: In April 2024, Microsoft invested $1.5 billion in G42 to accelerate AI development and global expansion.
Qualcomm: The Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Qualcomm have partnered to establish an advanced engineering center in Abu Dhabi focused on AI and data center solutions.
Cerebras: G42 has a strategic partnership with California-based Cerebras Systems and has been co-developing the Condor Galaxy supercomputer network.
MGX: The Abu Dhabi investment company MGX has participated in funding rounds for OpenAI and xAI and is a founding partner in the AI Infrastructure Partnership with Microsoft and BlackRock.
Saudi Arabia
Vision 2030 and tech hub: Under its Vision 2030 plan, Saudi Arabia is heavily investing in AI to diversify its economy away from oil and transform into a tech and innovation hub.
Major U.S. tech collaborations:
Nvidia and HUMAIN: In May 2025, Nvidia announced a partnership with the new Saudi AI firm HUMAIN, providing 18,000 of its top-tier AI supercomputing chips to build foundational infrastructure in the kingdom.
Google Cloud: Google Cloud is cooperating with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) on an AI hub in Dammam.
Cisco and HUMAIN: Cisco is partnering with HUMAIN to build scalable and secure AI infrastructure from the ground up, including establishing an AI Institute at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Groq: U.S. AI chip startup Groq secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to build the world's largest AI inferencing data center in Dammam.
Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS is working with local partners to create an "AI Zone" on its platforms.
Reciprocal investment: As part of a larger $600 billion economic package, the U.S. announced a deal where Saudi firms will invest tens of billions into U.S. data centers.
Qatar
Strategic investments: Qatar is using its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), to invest in AI and digital infrastructure globally, particularly in the U.S..
In September 2025, QIA partnered with U.S. asset manager Blue Owl to launch a $3 billion digital infrastructure platform focused on data centers.
QIA was also a key backer in a record-breaking $13 billion funding round for U.S. AI firm Anthropic.
Quantum technology: Qatari investment firm Al Rabban Capital has committed $1 billion to U.S.-based quantum firm Quantinuum to invest in U.S. quantum technology and workforce development.
KLNMurthy wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 04:00
Think tanks & lobbying massa are usually for countries and entities that aggressively *want* something. India is basically a status-quo power that wants to be left alone to mind its own business and grow in its own way. Hard to push aggressively for massa to ... do nothing.
Wanting to be left alone is not a realistic or at least not a profitable option in the world of hard nosed international relations, is it? There are only two options. Either be in axis with BRICS/global south type of powers (IOW: China camp) and do a NAM 2.0 redux or make a conscious and hard to swallow but a profitable and realistic choice recognizing India's relatively weak economic, technological, military and strategic positions as of today and strike a faustian bargain in order to build its capacities (similar to the Meiji era bargain by Imperial Japan) and if and when these capacities are built - only then strike out an independent path --- when and if India can truly claim great power status. A great power is one who can dominate its neighborhood, and chosen areas of Interests and does not rely on any other power for its core interests. One thing we should not indulge in - again - is moralistic rhetoric no one cares about to the detriment of India and Indians. Is the current view of EAM, one of "multi-alignment" is in need of a relook?
Last edited by ShauryaT on 26 Sep 2025 06:04, edited 3 times in total.
Ambar wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 03:52... Shashi Tharoor is absurd.
As a MoS of EAM, what were Dr. Tharoor's achievements? Also, as an MP then and now, did he come up with any new policy initiatives or any new bills crafted by him which were tabled in the Parliament?
One thing we should not indulge in - again - is moralistic rhetoric no one cares about to the detriment of India and Indians.
India is not being moralistic on two things that are very easy to be moralistic about - Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Gaza.
I do see so far no compromise on Indian independence and sovereignty even at significant economic cost; but I don't see this stance as moralistic. Rather it is protecting the core value from which all other values emerge.
Trump is treating the states allied with the US as vassals; as the British Raj dealt with the princely states in British India. I trust India's leaders will not bow down to this, there is no going back to pre-1947; and not yielding is not "moralistic".
A_Gupta wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 07:05
Trump is treating the states allied with the US as vassals; as the British Raj dealt with the princely states in British India. I trust India's leaders will not bow down to this, there is no going back to pre-1947; and not yielding is not "moralistic".
Not yielding is not enough to win. It is winning that matters. What is a win for India and Indian interests - given realities of power disparities current and emerging? That is the question leadership has to answer. We know what we ultimately want but how do we get there is the question? Cannot get there by just stating we do not want to be aligned, ignoring realities of the state of affairs. I personally feel, this moment is like Commodore Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853. Japan was helpless and its desires to be "left alone" did not have any mettle to stand on.
Ambar wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 03:52... Shashi Tharoor is absurd.
As a MoS of EAM, what were Dr. Tharoor's achievements? Also, as an MP then and now, did he come up with any new policy initiatives or any new bills crafted by him which were tabled in the Parliament?
Vayutuvan ji,
tharoor is window dressing and eye candy. One half of the population drools over him
He has an outstanding way with words and is extremely personable, intimidating friends and foes alike, by the sheer force of presence
He is a high maintenance rolls royce, when India needs a sturdy maruti that gets the work done without any fuss or flamboyance and when needed, can be easily fixed in any tiny workshop that dot the landscape in their thousands, everywhere in the country.
tharoor (politically speaking, of course) does not realize what every pretty girl already knows, that you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.
Indian politics needs draught horses, not arabian racehorses
to expect anything more from him is foolhardy
I like the guy, one needs a respite from the daily drudge and motivated self aggrandization of the papooze genre of politicking
As Milton said, "They also serve who only stand and wait" ................................(for good fortune of high office to fall into their laps)
There’s a clear divide between the pre-2020 Rajiv Malhotra and the post-2020 version. He remains razor-sharp, erudite, and highly articulate, but too often his conversations now drift into personal gripes and grievances. I agree with him that the whole “My frand Dunaald” and “ab ki baar Trump sarkar” routine was cringe-worthy, unnecessary, and shortsighted. Where I differ is in his belief that simply buying a seat at a think tank would have significantly changed our prospects.
He is absolutely right that Pakistan punches above its weight, pouring millions into lobbying, embedding its people across governments, and securing influence on both sides of the Western political spectrum. But India’s challenge today goes beyond policy confusion in Washington. What we are facing is a deeply rooted ideological and nativist movement, one that think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have successfully channeled into policy. Buying more “seats at the table” won’t fundamentally shift that reality. In this context, India turning inward and strengthening ties with its immediate neighbors including China, actually makes sense.
Yes, we do need a consistent line, and yes, our lobbying and PR game needs serious improvement. But let’s not kid ourselves that lobbying alone will solve our problems. And Malhotra’s suggestion that India should “invest” in the U.S. by sending more workers here is tone-deaf and almost laughable, especially when the MAGA political platform is explicitly anti-immigration!
Maybe Malhotra-ji feels under-valued at the end of a long & distinguished career.
Think tanks & lobbying massa are usually for countries and entities that aggressively *want* something. India is basically a status-quo power that wants to be left alone to mind its own business and grow in its own way. Hard to push aggressively for massa to ... do nothing.
KLNMurthy ji,
That is the crux of the matter
The man is a tireless warrior for our civilizational culture and all that it stands for and he has continually faced brickbats, threats, and abuse from the academic commies and abrahamics in amrika and elsewhere in the world
Honors have been given to some really horrendous schitts by this govt.
The least that they can do, and even now it's not too late, is to recognize his work by award of the padma
This govt, and indeed the party itself, is gun shy when it comes to supporting its own.............
The countless hundreds of party workers that were sacrificed in bengal to mumtaz begum's marauding party workers and jihadi murderers, is a bitter point to note
What's rolling out :
1. Immediate neighbourhood
2. Wider regional Conflicts
3. Worldwide
I feel that our insistence on strategic independence has to be root cause of all the angst!
And if you look at US moves they seem to be working to curtail this strategic independence.
Immediate. neighbourhood : look at various fires being lit either simultaneously or in a series of moves Sri Lanka, Maldives, Beediland, Myanmar, Nepal and now Taliban being threatened by Trump. We are getting encircled by a ring of fire.
Regional : Iran: Chabhar waiver removed, IMEC probably being sidelined with KSA/Paki pact, Gulf investment in AI which wlll have impact (They dont have the trained manpower and will need from India and therein will be Control tap on visas etc), Energy security
Geopolitical : Pukraine war and Russia and our energy deal, EU and the trade deal, US . And in the wider world an image of Dirty Indian being pushed around ( though had been there for a while but is being slowly mainlined).
I wonder if the Deep State have realised that China is a bigger Fish to fry currently and will need a step wise approach.
And I feel the first indicator was the No Show at UN General Assembly. Will there be a QUAD summit I doubt whether we will be hosting it.
And the next meet in Australia will definitely show the future grouping (at least for next 5-10 years all dependent on the future US President and Indian PM)
Vaccine Maitri of the global South has not gone down well with the white folks, showing them up as what they really are a bunch of marauding pirates.
It will be tense three year period with a 3-D Chess all around!!
williams wrote: ↑20 Sep 2025 23:56
Again relax folks. Nothing earth shattering has happened. 85 thousand engineers world wide and probably half that number in India go for this visa category. Most of these people work as consultants/contractors. It is a small number compared to the disruption that happened during Covid. When Covid happened all travel came to an halt, and most of the work is pushed remote during that time itself. That was much bigger disruption and yet nothing happened to Indian IT industry. Many IT US master degree holders also did not get any OJT opportunities. Offshoring in Mexico is already well established. So if there are H1b holders who are stranded, they will probably go to Mexico and manage their work from there. Doctors/researchers etc will find opportunities in other countries and will happily move to greener pasturers. There will be higher demand for US IT workers and their salaries will automatically go up. That will make this a more expensive affair. Silently the IT big wigs in the US will lobby to dilute this law and things will be back to square one.
Back home if we solve basic civic problems, provide batter services and opportunities for the aspirational youth, no one would want to go to other countries. As some one said let us use this opportunity to incentivize building our own platform stack and fuel our own economic growth. We could provide soft loans to those who want to return back and start their own MSMEs in India. Work life balance issues is mostly for IT workers who need to get work done in the day time and discuss issues in US timing from India. Those can be resolved and IT companies are usually in the forefront to improve things as they see more people working in this mode. Our youth is resilient and will grab opportunities as they come. They have been challenged in much more ways than we can all imagine. They will move on to do greater things in life.
Ultimately Amercans will be the losers. They have not improved their education system and are producing fewer STEM students. If the international students don't show up in numbers due to lack of opportunities all the innovation we see in the US will tank.
I keep thinking this turn of events could be a blessing in disguise for us. If we play our cards right, we could virtually end the brain drain that has always plagued us. But this would require Indian governments at every level (municipal, state govs, centre) to focus on fixing all the domestic issues that caused this brain drain in the first place. And I have no faith that will happen at all.
Rudradev wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 12:18
Trump announces 100% tariffs on Indian pharmaceutical exports.
The tariff is actually on branded and patented drugs. Its not clear what happens with generic drugs.
The orange one had promised to reduce costs by 1500%(?). Clearly this is a part of the strategy.
Realistically this is another shakedown, this time of the pharma industry. You pay bribes, you will get an exemption. The press conference linking tylenol with autism was a shot across the bow - look what I can do if you don’t pay. Not to mention he and his cronies must have already made money by shorting stock and more to be made.
loquacious trade negotiators went out with the dinosaurs
He needs to watch his tongue carefully
Talking about H1B and "people access" is the worst strategy to negotiate a trade deal with this selfish and rent seeking, anti immigrant administration, whose true intent in imposing such high punitive tariffs, specifically on India, is yet to be revealed
Last edited by chetak on 26 Sep 2025 13:30, edited 1 time in total.
Someone like Rajivji needs his own think tank. And yes a Parma award is due. But NaMo is very careful of avoiding loose cannons. In that sometimes rewarding a SRK and ignoring Rajivji hurts a lot. But then at this moment the Indian American lobby may be just biding their time waiting for the storm to be over.
I would like to think GoI too is willing to ride this over by wooing Wall St and ignoring St dept as they are filled with villains that no amount of bribing will help. NaMo doesn’t tolerate failures, softies and bribe seekers. That hurts a lot of people.
My main worry is the regime change ops and border issues. We need a firm handle on that. I don’t like US troops in the neighbourhood in disguise or openly. We can’t allow a foothold for these guys.
Also why hasn’t India issued a travel advisory on US universities yet? If not banning at least discourage Indian students and ideally banks should be raising student loan risks. PGurus were advising that only scholarship students should take the risk going forwards and avoid 2nd tier universities which I think is sound advice
S_Madhukar wrote: ↑26 Sep 2025 13:28Someone like Rajivji needs his own think tank. And yes a Parma award is due. But NaMo is very careful of avoiding loose cannons. In that sometimes rewarding a SRK and ignoring Rajivji hurts a lot. But then at this moment the Indian American lobby may be just biding their time waiting for the storm to be over.
I would like to think GoI too is willing to ride this over by wooing Wall St and ignoring St dept as they are filled with villains that no amount of bribing will help. NaMo doesn’t tolerate failures, softies and bribe seekers. That hurts a lot of people.
My main worry is the regime change ops and border issues. We need a firm handle on that. I don’t like US troops in the neighbourhood in disguise or openly. We can’t allow a foothold for these guys.
Also why hasn’t India issued a travel advisory on US universities yet? If not banning at least discourage Indian students and ideally banks should be raising student loan risks. PGurus were advising that only scholarship students should take the risk going forwards and avoid 2nd tier universities which I think is sound advice
Rajiv Malhotra Ji doesn't hesitate to call a spade. For years he has been screaming for desi tech stack, os, data storage and better digital policies in Govt and our forces. Some of these have been achieved and some not. I haven't seen his analysis on op Sindoor from this perspective, I don't know if he did one, but in our own way we have taken on certain challenges and did very well. But Tech is a moving target that doesn't allow for a chai break.
While strategic autonomy is a core principle of India even when we had weak and malleable coalition govts which sometimes squealed about"phoren hand", the new dimension is tech and social media that can foment and trigger unrest with warp speed, combined with limitless dollar printing which allows the US to use these means to pressure and topple nearly any democratic Govt in the world with impunity bordering on glee. It's another form of Dubya's "you are with us or against us".
BTW have you noticed that no one talks about "rules based order"? Because now there are no rules, except "might is right".
If Trump is piling on so much pressure on India it's because India matters. And perhaps there in lie some clues to the way forward. If we are comparing ourselves to pakis then we are hyphenating ourselves.
India is the only other country apart from China that has the potential to become tech and manufacturing independent (to a large extent) and one day rival China and US. It is also the only country that can become a giant consumption driven economy for decades to come, and therefore can play a vital role in challenging the $ hegemony.
Tech dominance - current US, China, future India
Mfg dominance - current China, future India, US uncertain
Consumption market - current US, future India, China uncertain
Currency dominance - current US, future China and India
IMO only India has the potential to become a global leader in all 4 domains.
We cannot achieve this or secure our interests by wanting to be left alone. A rising power will be seen as a threat by many. So we have to engage with all actors big and small, and there will be some failures along with many successes.
If anything Trump is a wake up call to India reminding us to not slumber into complacency and sharpen our arsenal of Saama, Daana, Bheda and danDa. And play evermore actively in friend and enemy territory.
Ultimately Amercans will be the losers. They have not improved their education system and are producing fewer STEM students. If the international students don't show up in numbers due to lack of opportunities all the innovation we see in the US will tank.
He is doing a big favor to India in the long run provided India is willing to capitalize . Invest in people ,allow them to invent and innovate and build institutions that are world class in stem . We need our weizmann ,Caltech ,max planck etc at even bigger scales .
