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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh Founder, Chairman & Publisher Ilayas Quraishi Chief Operating Officer Ela Dutt Editor Archana Adalja Contributing Editor T. Vishnudatta Jayaraman Advisor Arun Shah Ahmedabad Bureau Chief Peter Ferreira, Deval Parikh, Freelance Photographers Bhailal M. Patel Executive Vice President Jim Gallentine Business Development Manager - U.S. Shahnaz Sheikh Senior Manager Advertising & Marketing Sonia Lalwani Advertising Manager Shailu Desai Advertising New York Muslima Shethwala Syed Sheeraz Mahmood Advertising Chicago Digant Sompura Consultant for Business Development Ahmedabad, India Hervender Singh Circulation Manager Main Office Editorial & Corporate Headquarters 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Tel. (212) 675-7515 Fax. (212) 675-7624 New York Office Tel: (718) 784-8555 E-mails editor@newsindiatimes.com advertising@newsindia-times.com subscription@newsindia-times.com Website www.newsindiatimes.com Chicago Office 8846 Lavergne Ave, Skokie, IL 60077 Tel. (773) 856-3345 California Office 650 Vermont Ave, Suite #46 Anaheim, CA 92805 Mumbai Office Nikita Ajay Pai Goregaon, West Mumbai Ahmedabad Office 303 Kashiparekh Complex C.G. Road, 29 Adarsh Society Ahmedabad 380009 Tel. 26446947 F ax. 26565596 Published weekly, Founded in 1975. The views expressed on the opinion pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of News India Times. Copyright © 2026, News India Times News India Times (ISSN 0199-901X) is published every Friday by Parikh Worldwide Media LLC., 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Periodicals postage paid at Newark, N.J. , and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address change to News India Times, 1655 Oak Tree Toad, Suite 155 Edison, NJ 08820-2843 Annual Subscription: United States: $28 Disclaimer: Parikh Worldwide Media assumes no liability for claims/ assumptions made in advertisements and advertorials. Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the authors and Parikh Worldwide Media does not officially endorse, and is not responsible or liable for them. Analysis News India Times (January 17, 2026 - January 23, 2026) January 23, 2026 3 - Continued On Page 4 Analysis: IsMigration Poised To Become AGlobal Flashpoint? “M igration is a fact of life and a force for good,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres has observed, while urging safer and more orderly pathways for mil- lions seeking better lives amid conflict, instability, and despair. Human mobility is neither new nor anomalous; it is as old as civilisation itself. What has changed is its scale, visibility, and the political and cultural anxieties it now generates in an interconnected world. Globally, there are an estimated 260 million international migrants, account- ing for roughly 3.5% of the world’s popu- lation. While this proportion appears modest, the economic, social, and politi- cal impact of migration is disproportion- ately large. Europe and Asia together host over 80 million migrants, followed by North America. Contrary to popular belief, migration is not primarily a one-way movement from poor countries to rich ones. Nearly half of all migration from the Global South occurs between developing coun- tries themselves, rather than towards the affluent Global North. Indeed, South- South migration, often taking place across contiguous borders with porous controls, is believed to account for nearly 80% of such flows. Migration is driven by familiar push factors such as conflict, political instabil- ity, environmental degradation, disas- ters, unemployment, and poverty. Pull factors such as employment opportuni- ties, security, healthcare, education, and better governance. These forces operate simultaneously and interact in complex ways. While the most visible effects of mi- gration are felt in destination countries, source nations are also deeply affected, though in subtler and more long-term ways. SOCIAL IMPACT Immigration has the potential to reshape global culture by creating a more hybrid and globalised social order. To some observers, this represents cultural enrichment and diversity; to others, it raises fears of cultural dilution or homogenisation, often framed as the spread ofWestern consumerism and lifestyle norms. A third view suggests the opposite in that, cultural differences may harden rather than dissolve, leading to global cultural polarisation rather than convergence. Values, beliefs, and social practices travel with people. Immigrants therefore become agents of cultural diffusion, influencing both host societies and the communities they leave behind through transnational ties, remittances, and return migration. In practice, immigra- tion creates cultural cauldrons, altering the social composition of host nations through continuous interaction and mixing. Where new values and norms are ac- commodated and mutual adaptation is encouraged, integration tends to follow. Where they are resisted or imposed with- out dialogue, tensions emerge. Immi- grants are then accused of eroding local culture, while resistance is frequently labelled as xenophobic or right-wing populism. The reality is usually more nuanced. Social friction often arises not from numbers alone, but from speed of change, concentration in specific localities, and perceived asymmetry in adaptation. These tensions are most pronounced when religion and collective iden- tity override individual belief and civic norms. This phenomenon is particularly visible in parts of Europe, where im- migration debates increasingly revolve around cultural compatibility, secular- ism, and social cohesion rather than im- migration volumes per se. The question is no longer merely “how many,” but “how different, how fast, and under what rules.” ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS The economic effects of transnational migration are among the most visible, yet also the most misunderstood. While empirical measurement is complex and context-specific, broad patterns are clear. In the Global South, the benefits of mi- gration are evident in labour flows from South and Southeast Asia to the Gulf states. These movements sustain host economies while generating substantial remittances, which often exceed foreign aid and contribute significantly to house- hold income, consumption, education, and healthcare in source countries. In the Global North, immigration ex- pands the labour supply, boosts employ- ment and production, and contributes to GDP growth. Migrants often comple- ment rather than substitute local labour, filling gaps in agriculture, construction, healthcare, logistics, and services. In the United States, for example, migrant labour underpins agricultural productiv- ity, enabling native workers to move into higher-value industrial, managerial, and service-sector roles. Immigration can also improve produc- tivity by increasing labour market flex- ibility, supporting entrepreneurship, and offsetting demographic decline. Many advanced economies face ageing popula- tions and shrinking workforces; without immigration, sustaining pension systems and economic growth would be far more difficult. Yet public perception often diverges sharply from empirical evidence. Im- migration is frequently blamed for job losses, wage suppression, pressure on public services, housing shortages, and crime, claims that data only weakly supports, if at all. Such anxieties tend to intensify during economic downturns, when competition for jobs and welfare becomes more salient, even if migrants are not the underlying cause. For source countries, migration is a double-edged phenomenon. On one hand, remittances provide foreign By Col KL Viswanathan (Retd.) PHOTO:COL.K.L.VISWANATHAN (RETD.),COURTESY SAM