SifraExcerpt Courtesy: Sarmaya Arts Foundation
7 March 2024

Japan in Bombay and its presidency

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is currently visiting Japan for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue. The bilateral, which began 130 years ago with Bombay’s cotton trade, has deepened into a Special Strategic and Global Partnership in defence, digital technologies, semiconductor supply chains, clean energy, trade and connectivity. The following book excerpt traces the origin of India-Japan trade ties.

ANI-20230705152949 Courtesy: ANI
10 August 2023

Bombay’s historic ties to Zanzibar

On a recent visit to Tanzania, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced the establishment of the first overseas campus of the premier Indian Institute of Technology Madras on its islands of Zanzibar in Africa. The choice of Zanzibar is significant: 180 years ago, it was the very first interface between Indian merchants and the East African mainland.

Screenshot 2023-05-12 145229 Courtesy: T20 India
15 May 2023

T20 Mid-Year Conference – At the heart of the Indo-Pacific: Why Mumbai Matters?

On 10-12 May, 2023, Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House participated in the T20 Mid-year Conference hosted by Think20 and G20 in Mumbai. She delivered a special address on the integral position of Mumbai in the Indo-Pacific, pointing out the city’s historical, geopolitical, maritime, and commercial linkages with the Indian Ocean world.

Vank Cathedral Courtesy: Rasool Abassi/Wikimedia Commons
27 October 2022

India in the global Armenian network

The 18th century wave of Armenian immigrants to India were at the forefront of reinforcing a national identity for the Armenian people who lived dispersed across the world and without an independent country. The English colonial city of Madras was an important Armenian trading hub soon became home to an Armenian liberation movement

5-things-to-know-about-Indias-youngest-billionaire-king-Maharaja-Padmanabh-Singh Courtesy: Instagram
11 August 2022

Is ‘Pukka’ Dead?

The old world order and the manners and values that went with it, have come to an end. Many of its aspects and aesthetics are outdated, but some remain – like the word ‘pukka’ which implies a certain sensibility, now with a new interpretation. Will its meaning hold in the new world order that has yet to emerge?

Maktoum-Modi INDIANS BUILD THE UAE Courtesy: Twitter : Narendra Modi
14 June 2022

Indians in the development of the UAE

Indians are the largest expatriate community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their contribution to building that nation is being celebrated this year, which is also the UAE’s golden jubilee year. Cultural fluency built on centuries-old trade and migration makes it easier for Indians and Gulf Arabs to collaborate.

CNEP BOMBAY Courtesy: BNP Paribas
14 March 2022

French business icons of colonial Bombay

The Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1860 opened trade between France and Bombay, and brought two iconic French companies – a shipping line and the city’s first European bank. Bombay’s affluent residents were already familiar with French fashion, luxury goods, wines and liqueurs.

Suffren_meeting_with_Haider_Ali_26_july_1782_engraved_by_J_B_Morret_1789 Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
10 March 2022

300 years of India-France trade

Three hundred years ago, the Anglo-French rivalry in Europe spilled over to India, and threatened the dissolution of the powerful Bombay Presidency. Three centuries later, India and France are in a different place, with economic ties blossoming and the bilateral upgrading in 1998 into a strategic relationship. The speed with which this has scaled up reflects the deep familiarity between the two nations rooted in colonial history.