Foreign law firms are increasingly building dedicated India desks across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe as uncertainty over the country's legal sector liberalisation pushes them to seek alternative ways to access this market.For international firms, dedicated India desks offer a practical contingency plan against regulatory barriers. They enable marketing India-focused expertise, building corporate relationships and collaborating with domestic firms without a physical presence. Despite the Bar Council of India opening the sector to foreign lawyers last May, uncertainty over implementation has kept many firms on the sidelines.Now foreign law firms are building India-focused practices offshore, betting on sustained demand for cross-border work involving Indian businesses regardless of the full opening of the market. The latest entrant is London-headquartered Child & Child, which launched an India desk in London and entered into a partnership with Mumbai-based law firm Solicis Lex. In April, Ishaan Madaan joined Mandelbaum Barrett PC as counsel at its New York office to lead its India desk. In February, London-headquartered RPC appointed Ankit Goyal as partner in its Singapore office and head of its new India desk."My appointment reflects a deliberate investment bringing additional focus, relationships, and market connectivity to support the continued growth of India-related opportunities as a key part of the firm's international strategy," said Goyal. "India is a significant source of outbound investment and international business activity, while many of RPC's international clients have substantial operations, investments, or supply chain exposure in India," he said.The strategy is similar at Mandelbaum Barrett: filling a gap left open by larger firms. "Mandelbaum Barrett's India desk reflects a deliberate response to where the US-India corridor is headed, in the mid-market," said Madaan. "Indian companies expanding into US face a structural mismatch: BigLaw pricing for matters that do not require it. We bridge that gap with Chambers-recognised, BigLaw-trained talent and full-service capability at mid-market rates."In January, Malaysian law firm Skrine established a dedicated India desk in Kuala Lumpur after reporting a sharp increase in cross-border corporate activity between Malaysia and India. Last year, UAE-based Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants launched an India desk to advise Indian businesses expanding into the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Anand Desai, managing partner of Mumbai-headquartered DSK Legal, said the firm has been receiving queries and interest from law firms in several countries regarding a potential formal or informal alliance. Rajesh Narain Gupta, chairman, SNG & Partners, said several law firms are establishing India desks to cater to Indian businesses expanding into those jurisdictions.