Earn points on your home-country spending. Redeem for flights to India, lounge access, hotel upgrades. The right international card pays for itself in one round-trip India ticket and zero forex fees on India-visit spend.
Three patterns for different NRI situations.
Hold one home-country premium card with zero forex fee for India spend (Amex Platinum, Capital One Venture X, HSBC Premier UK) plus one Indian card on FD-backed entry-level (ICICI NRI Sapphiro). The international card earns points on home spend, the Indian card builds CIBIL.
Amex Platinum (US or UK) wins because Membership Rewards transfer to Air India 1:1, and you can redeem ~120,000 points for a one-way US-to-India business class seat. Cards without Air India transfer (Capital One, Chase) trail on this specific use case.
HSBC Premier customers get the World Elite card free in the UK and discounted globally. If you already meet HSBC Premier minimums (~£50K balance / £100K UK income), the no-additional-fee Premier World Elite is materially better value than any standalone premium card.
Each is its own focused page.