Engaging India is a weekly online column analysing the issues, trends and forces behind the business and politics shaping India and its impact on the world, which appears on FT.com India, a dedicated online section on India. Engaging India appears every Thursday morning exclusively on FT.com India and is written by Jo Johnson, the Financial Times’ South Asia bureau chief; Amy Yee, New Delhi correspondent; and Joe Leahy, Mumbai correspondent.

When Vodafone head Arun Sarin last week won the contest for mobile company Hutchison Essar, the largest corporate takeover battle in India’s history, rival bidder Anil Ambani issued a statement “welcoming” the UK company to India.