For much of the past few decades, global higher education’s engagement with India followed a narrow script. India was the source of students; institutions elsewhere were the destination. Success was measured in enrolments and mobility flows.
That framing is no longer adequate – nor is it aligned with the scale of the challenges and opportunities now facing the world. The coming decade will be shaped by ageing populations, rapid technological disruption and the green transition, creating a global talent challenge. At this moment, India stands out as the world’s youngest and most dynamic talent nation – and by 2030, one in five global workers is projected to be Indian.
If global progress on artificial intelligence, climate and sustainability, healthcare, inclusive growth and productivity is to be meaningful, India and the world must work together – not through transactional pipelines, but through deeper collaboration between education, industry and governments.
India is not only a key driver of international student mobility; it is increasingly the talent engine of the world. Yet many international engagements with India remain fragmented. MoUs are signed without delivery pathways. Recruitment activity is often disconnected from research, innovation, skills and employability. What is missing is not ambition, but shared infrastructure: platforms that bring universities, domestic and international, together with policymakers, employers, innovators and students to design solutions – not just discuss them.
The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation
The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation.
This requires moving beyond “India as a market” to “India as a partner” – and engaging India as a federal ecosystem in which states are decisive actors in shaping education, research, industry collaboration and workforce strategy. Tamil Nadu exemplifies this shift.
Long recognised as India’s leading state for higher education, research and industry integration, Tamil Nadu is now advancing a next-generation model for global collaboration through Knowledge City – India’s first integrated global education district. Designed as a full ecosystem rather than a standalone campus, Knowledge City is planned as an 870-acre, purpose-built education, research and innovation district with universities and research at its core, co-located with industry clusters and supported by plug-and-play infrastructure for global institutions.
The significance is not branding; it is architecture. Knowledge City enables joint degrees, transnational education delivery, applied research hubs, innovation clusters and skills pathways that are inherently industry-aligned. It is designed to make academic–industry collaboration the default rather than the exception, and to convert education into workforce and innovation outcomes at scale.
This moment also demands a different kind of convening infrastructure. Not conferences as showcases, but platforms built to translate intent into execution – where governments, domestic and international universities, employers, innovators and student communities can align on priorities and progress. This includes structured engagement through B2B exhibitions, curated G2G, G2B and B2B dealrooms, and focused dialogues that enable partnerships to move from discussion to delivery.
For those holding responsibility across education, skills, talent and innovation – including ministers and policymakers; vice-chancellors and senior academics; international directors and employability leaders; CEOs, investors; innovators; global employers and talent platforms; testing and credentialing bodies, think tanks and foundations – this conversation is now critical to shaping the decade ahead.
The focus is not only internationalisation and transnational education – though those remain central. It also spans the domains where universities are now system actors: AI and future learning, climate and sustainability, healthcare, creative economies, diversity and inclusion, academic-industry collaboration, employability and entrepreneurship, and the role of universities in nation-building. These are not “themes”; they are national and global imperatives.
A delivery-oriented platform should therefore be judged by outcomes. The most serious convenings are those that build the partnerships and systems required for the decade ahead: aligning education with future skills and workforce demand; strengthening sustainable transnational education models; building ethical, student-centred mobility frameworks; developing global communities of practice; providing data and intelligence for decision-making; and co-creating Knowledge City as a living global education lab for research, education and innovation partnerships.
It is in this spirit that the inaugural India Global Education Summit (IGES) will take place on January 2026 28-29, co-organised by the government of Tamil Nadu and NISAU. The invitation is intentionally inclusive: to Indian institutions and stakeholders shaping India’s domestic education and skills future, and to international partners seeking equitable collaboration with India at scale.
Registration is complimentary for academic institutions and universities, ensuring broad participation across the global higher education community. For those shaping education, skills, talent and innovation strategies, this is an opportunity to move from conversation to co-creation.
Registration details are available at educationsummit.global.
About the author: Sanam Arora is founder and chair of NISAU (National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK) and convenor of the India Global Education Summit.
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