India, Sept. 30 -- What if India's English-speaking population is larger than the combined population of the principal English-speaking countries? It may sound improbable. But the numbers point to a remarkable possibility.

There is a statistic about India that deserves much greater attention.

India may have as many as 750 million people who know English-not necessarily as their mother tongue, but as a second or third language, and in varying degrees of proficiency.

If that estimate is anywhere near reality, it produces a striking comparison: The number of Indians who can use English could be considerably larger than the combined population of the major countries where English is the predominant native language.

This is not a claim tha...