The Hindu Huddle 2026 LIVE updates: India is a pivotal power; value lies in preserving communication channels, says Nirupama Rao

The Hindu Huddle Day 1 was packed with thought-provoking sessions and came to a close after a performance by mentalist Naman Anand. Titled Mind Games, the session took the audience on a mind-bending experience with his illusions and tricks. 

“Do you have any secrets? Then guard them.”

That is how Nama was introduced on stage. The mentalist has been performed for everyone from Shah Rukh Khan and the Ambani family to the IPL cricket teams. In his interactive session, he brought an audience member up on stage. He asked guests to write down a number, a colour and even a random name from their personal life. He then wowed the audience by guessing it all correctly. In one trick, a member was hypnotised and made to guess what other members of the audience were doing with their eyes closed. 

Mr. Anand brought up the energy of the evening with his charismatic show.

‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’ took 8 years to be made. It’s a small film, but I am glad to see the love it has gotten from women all over the world. The reception to the movie has given me the confidence to do an indie movie. We must have more small, mid-budget movies. They have disappeared.

Talking about pay parity between male and female actors in the film industry, Huma Qureshi said that Films are made through the male gaze. “Women are just accessories. The mindset is deeply rooted.”

She further said, “Don’t ask women about pay parity, ask male actors why they don’t feel bad when women get less pay than them.”

Stay tuned to catch actors Huma Qureshi and Kritika Kamra in conversation with Rohit Khilnani, journalist and talk show host.

The panel will be discussing ‘New Avatar for the Silver Screen: The global reach of OTT’.

“By the end of this decade, there will be fairly robust validated automated tools which will give a whole population the first line of mental health access,” Dr. Malik states. He elaborates on his personal usecase and draws it to validate the rapid speed of tech development within various AI chatbots.

He also substantiates by talking about the difficulty in access to traditional setups at the moment. This includes private mental health institutions being expensive.

“Tech companies should also take the responsibility to make sure of the age of the person using chatbots,” Dr. Prabha says in response to a question from the audience

Dr. Prabha also goes on to explain the phenomenon of character AI, which young people enjoy interacting with because the AI takes on the persona of any person as prompted.

“Character AI is something you need to watch out for. It could be dangerous. It’s immersive and young people enjoy it a lot. But there are no guardrails in place,” she adds as a cautionary note.

“A lot of people from tier-2 cities call to Tele MANAS. Chatbots have helped us to prime the persons calling to understand what they want and use the time effectively,” Dr. Prabha explains.

“You can train chatbot to become your best friend or therapist. Studies show people using ChatGPT or Gemini for these purposes. People who are lonely use it a lot. People who are shy and socially avoidant also use it a lot and become more shy.”

“A lot of my younger patients are checking with ChatGPT if what their psychologist is doing is right. The understanding that therapy is always not about agreement is very critical to understand that a psycho fanatic chatbot could be making things worse,” Dr. Prabha elaborates.

“Rather than denying it, we should come from a place of curiosity so we can use and work with it. For people who are highly vulnerable it can cause problems. But chatbots are here to say,” she adds.

“There is early evidence that excessive dependence on genAI for anything could lead to cognitive issues in certain areas including critical thinking, creativity, visual memory and could lead to cognitive laziness, emotional laziness,” Dr. Prabha says.

Further, Dr. Malik elaborates: “Biggest thing is you being the driver and not ChatGPT. I am also a heavy user, but I contextualise heavily even have two-page prompts.”

“The young and the elderly are going to ChatGPT to ask about handling loneliness, depression, grief. Loneliness seems to be one of the big problems of our times,” Dr. Prabha Chandra says in her opening remarks.

She adds: “The good is that it is supportive. Bad is that there is no regulation. We have to stop thinking of it in binaries.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Amit Malik says: “This can be a bridge to access. Unlocking of information that kept people away from seeing professions and seeking services is happening.”

“The bad is the level of non contextualised disinformation that can be spread,” he adds.

The session, moderated by author Amrita Tripathi, includes panellists:

– Dr. Amit Malik, Psychiatrist and Founder, AMAHA

– Dr Prabha S Chandra, Professor of Psychiatry and Director, NIMHANS 

• “There is a hiring gap is not because of the lack of educated people, it is because of the lack of skills in the people.”
• “I think there should be a policy around the basics of education including communication, across rural, semi-rural and urban areas. There is a growing need and an itch among the youngsters for a space for such skills.”
• “Degrees initially had a role, it is slowing fading as a way to showcase skills. A degree must show how many skills you have or there needs to a whole new system that is accessible for all.”

• “In some design-oriented fields, AI is a significant threat. However, in others they create an illusion of threat.”
• “AI is also a skill for students to help us progress even further,” another panellist states.
• “Credibility of the information from AI is also an issue. The judgment lies with us.”

While one student highlighted the skill gap in highly educated individuals, the other pointed out that degrees are essential in several industries.

Further, a medical student said the question of degrees or skills is a highly industry-specific one that varies across the baord.

“Degrees build trust. Skills show if you are capable or not. Social norms will change to integrate both.”

• “Collaboration/alignment/democratically designed – these are misnomers for what actually happens,” R. Ganesan says.
• “Do we have sufficient resources?” – Praveen Someshwar says this question is the biggest paradox. “Best problem solvers are those who aren’t necessarily intelligence-rich, but more attention-disciplined,” he adds.

“We should aim to become the skills capital of the world,” Ms. Sharma says, adding that lots more needs to be done in order to become more employable as a country. TeamLease Digital CEO says there are currently 50,000 apprentices/trainees across industries.

“Culture is what people do when leadership is not in the room. To make that work on a sustainable basis, what is it that each one does. Second, what is the bigger purpose of the organisation? If that is compelling enough, I genuinely believe people will be motivated. This is the same for the young or the old,” Mr. Someshwar elaborates.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ganesan adds: “Give the youngsters a hot, challenging problem and let them discover further.”

On the question of metrics to measure productivity in today’s “volatile world”, Mr. Katyal says that his organisation has moved away from the annual appraisal to a quarterly performance review.

“There is constant feedback. Productivity is beyond numbers, it’s about whether there is sequential progress,” he adds.

“A few years back, it was a linear planning of an objective – be it manufacturing or any other projects. In the modern era, business plan is done by the organisation, and the next month there’s the West Asia conflict. So, it is a combination of leadership material of communicating the intent of what needs to be done and how change has to be seamlessly built into the change required,” Mr. Ganesan answers.

He adds that top and the middle management have to work and move together.

“Many signals come as either problems or opportunities. It is humanly impossible for leaders to choose what is the right thing to do. I have found that it is best to create enough pilots so that no opportunity gets missed, and no problem gets magnified,” Shailendra Katyal says.

Talking about communication, Mr. Katyal adds that it is very important to articulate the “why” behind leadership decisions.

“AI is powerful. It shows us new patterns that unlocks new value. Technology scales intelligence. Leadership scales judgement. We got to embrace the understanding the patterns we would have missed humanly. That can’t be the end game alone,” says Praveen Someshwar.

– “Pass, Reflect, Act,” says R. Ganesan, Senior Vice President & Head – Corporate Centre, L&T 

– “There is no dearth of data. I thin listening to stakeholders is key. Listen to the noise of the industry,” says Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital.

– “Volatility is the operating environment of the world right now. Seriously look at what has and has not changed. Look at what we need to do to solve for change. I am always walking and talking to our consumers. Be agile, adaptable”, says Praveen Someshwar, MD and CEO, USL & Member, Global Diageo Executive Committee.

– “Chaos is always the short term raising its hand and saying I am more important than the long term. It is important to take the context in without losing sight of the north star,” says Shailendra Katyal, VP & MD, Lenovo India.

The post-lunch session on Day 1 of The Hindu Huddle 2026 is on ‘The Architecture of Leadership: Designing blueprints for a volatile world’.

Moderated by L.V. Navaneeth, CEO, The Hindu Group, the panel includes:

• R. Ganesan, Senior Vice President & Head – Corporate Centre, L&T 

• Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital

• Praveen Someshwar, MD and CEO, USL & Member, Global Diageo Executive Committee

• Shailendra Katyal, VP & MD, Lenovo India

Stay tuned!

At the end of the session, N. Ram poses a question to Nirupama Rao: “You spoke about pivots. A pivot that I notice is the present Indian government’s pivot to Israel, specifically the Israel of Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu). What do you make of that?”

To this, Ambassador Rao says: “I have been reflecting on this, and don’t really have an answer as I am not a serving diplomat.”

However, she goes on to add: “I have often positioned this whole question of India’s Israel policy against the background of what our policy towards West Asia was in the decades since Independence. More than sympathy, our empathetic identification with the cause of the Palestinian people. And to me this is still very important, as a thinking Indian.”

The session concludes.

“It is a challenging time for diplomacy, but the need for it has never been greater,” says Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India. 

If raw power is the only game of the day, it will lead to chaos as we see in case of West Asia today, he adds.

“Externalities are for others. Diplomacy then also includes cushioning the fallout, it doesn’t mean to accept everything,” he says, in response to a question on whether diplomacy really revolves around peacekeeping alone.

Ms. Rao, in her view, shares that the emerging world order is “intermediated” than being multipolar.

On India’s position, she terms it as a “pivotal power” that places value not in choosing sides, but preserving channels of communication.

Nirupama Rao, Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S., states that there is an erosion of the world order as we know it. “We are seeing an erosion of world order. The power is diffusing rather than disappearing.”

She adds that the war on Iran has changed this conversation.

Philip Green, Australian High Commissioner to India, begins by saying that “it’s a great time to be a diplomat”.

Australia is a treaty ally of the United States, he says, adding that the country is also looking to work with Japan and even India to get through the difficult moment in regional and global conflicts.

“It is wrong to say Australia never parts company from the U.S.. Just 24 hours ago, our Prime Minister said that we have ideological difference between Australia and United States in relation to tariffs.,” he adds. 

Mr. Green further says: “Rather than worry about the world where rules don’t exist, we need to protect the rules that exist and try to build them on. The global rule making order might have slowed down but it has not stopped. So for my country, defending the rules, standing by them if necessary, pushing them where we can, is enormously important.”

Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India, goes first and states that the world order, as we know it from World War II, needs to be reinvented.

He also rejects the term “middle powers”, stating that the focus must be on intention and agency.

“We are trying to work with every other partner who would like to put forward proposals and take up initiatives underpinned by cooperation. The question is whether we want to gang up together against other. It has to be issue-based and inclusive, which will make the difference,” he adds.

The session – ‘The Power of Words: Diplomacy at a time of conflict’ – is moderated by The Hindu’s Suhasini Haidar. The panel of distinguished diplomats includes:

• Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India
• Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary and Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S.
• Philip Green, Australian High Commissioner to India

“Solutions for man-animal conflict have to be based on science, data and community participation. We have to empower rural Indians to solve man-animal conflicts,” Dr. Krithi Karanth says, in response to a question on man-animal conflicts and difficult choices to be made on a case-to-case basis.

With that, the session concludes.

“We have very progressive laws, extensive institutions to protect environment. But recently we are beginning to see environmental protection as a regulatory burden and not as a prerequisite for public health and economic growth. Ease of business mantra is overtaking everything,” Jairam Ramesh says.

“In environment and development, you cannot satisfy all sides, but balanced dissatisfaction is needed,” he adds. To this, Dr. Krithi says, “It is the willpower to do it that is needed”.

On Dr. Krithi’s point of optimism regarding on ground work for environment, Mr. Ramesh says: “India is a land of billion cockroaches, they are going to multiple. Cockroach is part of our biodiversity.”

“Democracy is about protecting the smallest of the small community. If a particular community says something is integral to their culture, it needs to be protected. In India, protecting culture is protecting nature,” the Rajya Sabha MP articulates.

Dr. Krithi says: “We can’t make excuses for not protecting India’s environment. We are able to do a lot as a civil society on the ground. Other than tigers and elephants, which goes up to the Centre, there is a lot of political will. To me, wildlife is politically agnostic.”

To this, Mr. Ramesh says, there is great room for optimism. 

“Development and environmental protection must go hand in hand. It involves making difficult choices. In the last 40 years, we have understood the public health impact of ecological imbalance,” Mr. Ramesh says.

Further, Dr. Kriti Karanth adds: “We celebrate India’s culture, heritage, history; But most Indians don’t celebrate this country for its wildlife”.

“Nicobar is a unique ecosystem. And to think you can deforest Nicobar and compensate for it by some aforestation in Haryana is flawed,” Mr. Ramesh elaborates.

The next session is with Former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh, and Dr. Krithi Karanth, CEO, Centre for Wildlife Studies.

Moderated by Gargi Rawat, Consulting Editor, NDTV, the session is on ‘From the Aravallis to the Nicobar: At the edge of ecology’.

This session is particularly special given that June 5 is observed as World Environment Day. Stay tuned!

The session with the Chinese Ambassador to India ends with Ms. Haidar asking whether Chinese President Xi would be visiting India for the upcoming BRICS Summit. To this, Mr. Feihong says he couldn’t give an exact answer or information on it at the moment.

“We will keep you informed,” he adds.

Terming India and China as major emerging economies with broad prospects for development, Mr. Feihong says: “These similarities just tell us we should expand our common ground and narrow differences, avoid misunderstanding and misjudgement.”

“China and India as two ancient civilisations have the wisdom and capability to find effective ways to accommodate each other’s core interest and major concerns, and properly settle differences through dialogue,” he adds.

“The leaders of our two countries play a leading role in providing strategic guidance for relations between our two countries. Both President Xi and Prime Minister Modi attach great importance to bilateral ties and view relations from the strategic and long-term perspective,” Mr. Feihong says.

He highlighted that the two leaders have led relations “from a reset and fresh start to a new level of development.”

“The diplomatic teams of two sides have been working very hard to step up communication and cooperation at various levels to advance implementation of the important common understandings between the two leaders,” he adds.

“India-China relationship is one of the most important relationships in the world. It carries global strategic significance. I am very glad to see the gradual and tangible progress we have made in bilateral ties, such as resumption of pilgrimage for Indian citizens, restart of direct flights between different cities,” Mr. Feihong says.

Next session is with Xu Feihong, Chinese Ambassador to India, who will be talking in a session titled ‘India-China Tango: Asian powers shaping the emerging world order’.

The session is moderated by Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu.

Mr. Shivakumar, highlighting Karnataka and Bengaluru’s importance, says: “Bengaluru has biggest talent pool in Asia. We produce engineers and doctors and export them to the rest of the world. Any global universities, Karnataka and India plays a big role. Let us all work together and see every section of people on the social fabric does well.”

“The Hindu is Hindustan, Hindustan is India, India is Bharat,” he adds.

“Bengaluru is a city where the world is looking at. There was a time when world leaders used to come to Delhi. Then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said now the situation had changed, world leaders are first coming to Bengaluru and then to Delhi. Likewise The Hindu also has a long history, heritage.You all (audience) read history, The Hindu writes history, we believe in making history,” Mr. Shivakumar says.

He adds: “The Hindu has not budged an inch despite political and govt pressures. Your pen is strong and it is providing direction.”

Chief Minister of Karnataka D.K. Shivakumar arrives to formally inaugurate The Hindu Huddle 2026.

“I normally have a coffee with The Hindu. Today I am starting my outreach as Chief Minister with The Hindu Huddle. It provides solutions to every walk of life,” he says.

N. Ram, in his address, throws light on the global context of the times — from U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies and the ongoing war on Iran, to the situation in Gaza and the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026. He ties it to The Hindu Huddle’s theme of ‘A world in transition’, highlighting the crucial role of media.

“In such uncertain times before us, we need more than ever open, free, moderated, intelligent and courageous discussions. We hope that such discussions take place at The Hindu Huddle 2026,” Mr. N. Ram says.

Session 1 on ‘Beyond the Valley: The role of Kashmir in great power politics’ with J&K CM Omar Abdullah ends.

Next up, N. Ram, the Director of The Hindu Group, addresses the gathering. He intends to articulate the context of The Hindu Huddle 2026, themed “A world in transition” to reflect the tectonic shifts that have transformed lives over the past year.

“There were no private universities in J&K, nor an enabling mechanism until this year. The J&K Assembly passed the legislation allowing private universities to come and set up there. Along with asking you to come and make movies there, those of you who are part of the education, high education setup, please look at Jammu and Kashmir. There is enormous potential there,” CM Omar says, responding to a question from a young student who wished to know if there would be good college options for him in J&K in the future.

“By the time you graduate from Class 12, I assure you there will be even more opportunities for you to explore in J&K in terms of education,” he adds.

“Come and visit Kashmir. We don’t get enough visitors from the South of the Vindhyas. We are trying to encourage more people from this part of the country to come visit us.,” Omar Abdullah says.

Further, he says: “Tourism often follows movies. Look at what happened to Switzerland, thanks in part to Yash Chopra’s films. We would love to see more South Indian films shot in Kashmir. These days, your films seem to be doing better than Bollywood’s, and you have bigger budgets. So I hope more films from the south are shot in Kashmir in the future.”

Later, responding to a question from the audience on tourism, Mr. Abdullah points out: “There is a direct IndiGo flight to Srinagar. Compared with many other hill stations in north India, Srinagar is easier to reach than several other parts of the country.”

The J&K CM says he’s been privy to the ups and downs of power within a democracy several times since childhood.

“Power is a very fleeting thing. I have always told my colleagues that we are the most glorified daily wage workers in the country. Therefore, I take the trappings of the office with a large pinch of salt,” he says.

He reflects on his active political career of 30 years. “Age and experience should never be scoffed at,” Mr. Abdullah says.

“First and foremost, give us our statehood back. Give us what is rightfully ours. Empower us back as a State and we shall go forward from there. I’m not going to ask for anything more at this point in time,” J&K CM Omar Abdullah says.

He refers to Statehood as the single biggest policy change he wants from the Government of India.

“What you do with Pakistan is a different matter. Of course, it impacts us in day-to-day lives. But I’m happy to discuss all that with the government after that,” he adds.

Dr Narayan Lakshman asks CM Abdullah to share what, in his view, would be the single biggest policy mistake India could make in Kashmir over the next decade.

To this, Mr. Abdullah says: “You’ve already made it, in 2019. You are unfortunately continuing the mistake by denying the people of J&K what is rightfully theirs – statehood.”

He refers to Ladakh and says, “You have essentially taken a part of the country that celebrated what they got in 2019. Vociferously people of Ladakh came out and said thank you, saying you have given us our freedom. Today, they are saying we were better off in 2019.”

“Article 370 was never a cause of any lack of development in Jammu and Kashmir. It’s revocation or watering down has not resulted in this massive development. If anything, it has suffered on account of 30-35 years of violence. The fact that J&K was perceived as “unsafe” to visit or to work at — is what we paid a price for. That was the propaganda that was used,” CM Omar Abdullah says, in response to a question on the aftermath of the revocation of the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.

Day 1 of The Hindu Huddle 2026 kicks off with the first session — ‘Beyond the Valley: The role of Kashmir in great power politics’.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is in conversation with The Hindu’s Opinion Editor Dr. Narayan Lakshman. 

Dr. Narayan Lakshman, The Hindu’s Opinion editor and the curator of The Hindu Huddle, formally welcomes the gathering.

“We are bringing, under a single roof, the most impactful global experts in the time of shifting global priorities and polarities – AI and its transformational impact on jobs and mental health; federalism, pluralism and the fight for constitutional values in India governance; and how technology, culture and new institutions are shaping the world of entertainment, art and sports – a wide range of canvas for you to enjoy,” Dr. Lakshman says.

He declares the sixth edition of The Hindu Huddle “open for dialogue”.

Day 1 of The Hindu Huddle 2026 begins with Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan extending a warm welcome to the dignitaries and the audience.

The sixth edition of the ideas conclave of The Hindu Group, The Hindu Huddle, is being held in Bengaluru on June 5 and 6.

Today we are bringing together the following speakers:

D.K. Shivakumar, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka

Omar Abdullah, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir

Xu Feihong, Chinese Ambassador to India

Jairam Ramesh, Former Union Minister and Hon’ble Member of Parliament (INC), Rajya Sabha

Dr Krithi Karanth, CEO, Centre for Wildlife Studies

Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India

Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary and Former Indian Ambassador to the US

Philip Green, Australian High Commissioner to India

R. Ganesan, Senior Vice President & Head – Corporate Centre, L&T

Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital

Praveen Someshwar, MD and CEO, USL & Member, Global Diageo Executive Committee

Shailendra Katyal, VP & MD, Lenovo India P Ltd, and Site Leader, Lenovo Group

Dr Amit Malik, Psychiatrist and Founder, AMAHA

Dr Prabha S Chandra, Professor of Psychiatry and Director, NIMHANS

Huma Qureshi, Actor

Kritika Kamra, Actor

Today highlights will include:

• Diplomacy and global affairs discussions
• Sustainable development and climate change challenges
• Artificial intelligence and the future of education
• Leadership in times of disruption and uncertainty
• Urban transformation and infrastructure development
• Media, technology, and society

The Hindu Huddle will be opened by host State Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and will include other Ministers from across the country to explain the government view on vital policies. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Telangana A. Revanth Reddy will also be speaking at the event.

This edition will bring together leading Indian and global voices to discuss some of today’s most important issues, including the role of regional parties in strengthening India’s democracy, diplomacy in times of conflict, women’s representation in Parliament, India and China’s role in shaping a new global order, balancing ecological restoration with development, the use of chatbots in mental health, the influence of OTT platforms on acting careers, and the future of work.