No Indians on Time's 2025 list of most influential people

Time magazine’s 2025 list of the 100 most influential people includes leaders, innovators, and changemakers across the globe, but for the first time in recent years, no Indian nationals made the cut.

In contrast, the 2024 edition included Indian actor Alia Bhatt and Olympic wrestler Sakshi Malik. Indian-origin figures like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and actor Dev Patel were also featured last year.

For 2025, the only Indian-origin individual to make the cut is Reshma Kewalramani, the US-based CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. She moved from India at age 11 and made history as the first woman to lead a major American biotech company.

Among the global leaders highlighted this year are US President Donald Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who, at 84, is the oldest person on the list, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Also named are US Vice President JD Vance, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, and South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung.

Other notable figures include US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Argentinian President Javier Milei, and Ahmed al-Sharaa, who played a key role in last year’s Syrian uprising that challenged the Assad regime.

The 2025 edition spans politics, business, science, and entertainment, with five international covers featuring actor Demi Moore, musician Snoop Dogg, former tennis champion Serena Williams, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

The list is categorised into groups like ‘Leaders,’ ‘Icons,’ and ‘Titans,’ reflecting the wide-ranging influence of those who shaped the past year.