India is not quite as welcoming to foreigners, from a banking/legal/property-ownership perspective. If you've already met an Indian partner in the West (or are Indian yourself -- but then you'd know this) and are thinking about moving back there as a geoarbitrage play and/or to be with family (in-laws), it could work. I do worry a little about the political climate though. On the one hand, people will go out of their way to be nice to you in a way that doesn't happen in the West. On the other, it's a country where "is an Indian citizen", "looks Indian", and "is Hindu" are not really separate concepts outside of some minority communities. Whether India would work depends on what kind of family you have there, I think. Because in India, family is everything.
One thing often left unsaid about some of the locales in these articles is a fairly loose attitude towards sex, prostitution, and relationships between older foreign men and much younger women.
You will find the people profiled in these to be overwhelmingly men.
India has tons of English speakers by raw numbers, but as a percentage it's below world average[1]. Obviously, it's higher in the more cosmopolitan areas where westerners are likely to go, but the same would be true of every country.
That's like saying you won't visit the US because of racism. I don't know what you think caste is, but just like racism, it has been illegal for a long time. And just like racism it is still prevalent, but it's probably the worst possible reason to avoid India
India is quite as expat-friendly as Thailand or Vietnam. India is crowded. Cities where you'd find other expats are usually very expensive already.
All that said, India has a niche that can only be surpassed by China - road tripping on diverse terrains. Done by lots of retired expats from Thailand and Vietnam.
