The word “diaspora” was first used to describe Jews who lived outside of Israel. Now, it is used to describe people who have moved away from their home country. In India, the term is used to talk about Indian people who live and work abroad for work or business.
Diaspora is an important thing for non-state actors, a “soft power” in foreign policy research, and a “natural link” between the people’s home country and the country where they live now.
• For example, the Chinese diaspora has helped the country become an economic giant by investing a lot of foreign direct investment (FDI).
• The Jewish community has a strong hold on the US and the European Union when it comes to their strategic relationships with Israel in the political world.
• Indians have been moving to different parts of the world since the beginning of time. The first people to leave
Indians can be traced back to trade and religious ties with other cultures like the Greeks and the
Mesopotamian. Later, Buddhist monks also went around South and Southeast Asia sharing their religion and religious messages.
• There are now Indians and Indian kingdoms all over the world. But there were never any stable Indian settlements outside of India when people moved around in the past. Indians also traded with East Africa through different groups, such as the Ismailis and the Horas. Under the name of the Nattukottai Chettiyar Association, the Ranyas and the Chettiyars came together.
• Before colonial indentured labour movement, people moved around because it was part of the social order. This was seen in the case of marginal peasants, who switched allegiances from one master to another and moved from one region to another as a result.
Colonial Period
• The British rule, its effects on the Indian peasants, the famines, and the economic backwardness that followed all led to a lot of people being out of work. When the British stopped slavery in the 1830s, there was a severe lack of workers on sugar plantations in the British and European colonies. Because of this, people from India and other parts of Asia were forced to work for someone else. Most of these workers were brought in from Western Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, and Orissa.
Post-Colonial Period
• In the post-colonial era, movement was very different from what it had been in the past.
During the ancient, mediaeval, and colonial times, people moved around. Most of the people who moved here were from the middle class, knew English, and were skilled. After India became independent, its school system was based on those of the United Kingdom and the United States. The system made too many professionals compared to the number of jobs that can use them. Most of the people moved to prosperous countries in the West, such as the U.S., the U.K., and Australia.
• Many professionals, semi-skilled workers, poor workers, and students from India have moved abroad in the last few decades.
• According to the Global Migration Report 2020, India is still the country from which the most people move to other countries. Its diaspora of 17.5 million people lives all over the world, and Indians living abroad sent back $78.6 billion, which is a huge 3.4% of India’s GDP.
• The Indian diaspora is better off now than it was in the past, and its role in India’s growth is growing. It helps by sending money back to India, investing in India, fighting for India, spreading Indian culture abroad, and giving India a good name because of the smart and hardworking people who live there.
India’s Diaspora Policy
Active Dissociation
• Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, had a policy of “active dissociation” from the people of Indian descent who lived in other countries.
• He was worried about how connecting with and supporting this diaspora would affect the security of the countries where they lived. Indian groups abroad have been bitter about Nehru’s policies for many years.
• In India’s Parliament in 1957, he said, “If they take the nationality of that country, we don’t care about them.” This shows how cold he was towards Indians living abroad. Nehru’s comments meant that the diaspora could not expect India to fight for their rights. As a result, India’s foreign policy became a model of non-interference whenever emigrant Indians got into trouble in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, etc.
• But Lai Bahadur Shastra made a start by making a deal with Sirimavo Bandaranaike to solve the problem of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Nehruvian trend, on the other hand, was kept going by governments until 1980.
New Era for Diaspora Policy
• The Indian community around the world was only seen as “one” on national holidays and other important days. During Rajiv Gandhi’s time in power, the diaspora strategy got a boost. In 1986, when the Fiji Indian issue happened, he helped. Aside from that, he saw the Indian diaspora as a strategic advantage and asked people like Sam Pitroda to help build the country. In 1984, he took administrative steps to set up the Indian Overseas department.
• During Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time in office, the policy of reaching out to the Indian community got off to a strong start. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was first started in 2003 under NDA-I. It is marked on January 9, which is the day Mahatma Gandhi came back to India from South Africa. The government chose to celebrate it every year by holding events and giving awards to well-known Indians living in other countries.
An Era of Importance
• When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, he made the connection between the Indian diaspora and the growth of the country. Since then, diaspora has become an important part of Indian foreign policy, which is now focused on strengthening the role and importance of the Indian diasporic community in the growth of the country and attracting global investment, aid, and technology.
• The current government started a programme called “Know India Programme” (KIP) in 2016 to help Indian-origin kids between the ages of 18 and 30 learn about their Indian roots and modern India.
How important is the Indian diaspora?
Strategic Advances
• This change in policy affects how the Prime Minister interacts with Indian groups when he travels to the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, Singapore, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
• The government has also worked hard to keep Indians living abroad connected to their home country. They have done this by making visa rules easier to understand, combining the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card and the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Card into a single identity card to get lifelong Indian visas and avoid checks at local police stations during visits, and starting a Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
• Not only does this diaspora policy focus on the rich, industrialists, and white-collar workers, but it also gives credit where credit is due respect for the people in the working class. It’s clear from the fact that the PM went to the Indian workers’ camp in Abu Dhabi, setting up the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) and launching an online platform called MADAD to help them. When war broke out in Yemen in 2015, the Indian government started Operation Rahat to get Indian people out of the country. The Union Cabinet has also given non-resident Indians the right to vote by proxy.
Political Front
• People with Indian roots are in charge of politics in many countries. In the US, they are now a big part of both the Republican and Democratic parties and the government.
• The political power of India’s diaspora can be judged by the fact that it was able to convince lawmakers who had doubts about the India-U.S. nuclear deal.
Foreign Policy Front
• The Indian diaspora is not only a part of India’s soft power, but also a political vote bank that can be used anywhere.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gathering at Madison Square Garden is a way for him to say “thank you” to the members of the Indian-American community who helped him a lot with his online campaign and money for his election.
• The institutionalisation of “diaspora diplomacy” is a clear sign that a country’s diaspora group has become a much more important part of foreign policy and related government activities.
Economic Strength
• The diaspora has helped India’s services industry grow, especially in the IT and ITES sectors, through FDI, remittances, and the sharing of knowledge and entrepreneurial skills.
• The Indian diaspora is one of the wealthiest minorities in many developed countries. This made it easier for them to fight for India’s best interests. For example, Indians only make up 1% of the U.S. population, but a 2013 Pew poll found that they are the most educated and wealthiest minority.
• The movement of less-skilled workers, especially to West Asia, has also helped India reduce its “hidden unemployment.”
• In general, the balance of payments is improved by the money that travellers send home. Sending money back home helps make up for a bigger trade imbalance.
India got $80 billion in remittances in 2018, keeping it at the top of the list of countries that receive the most money from other countries. From 2013-2014 to 2016-2017, the amount of FDI that came in went from $36 billion to $60 billion.
• By making a web of cross-border networks, foreign workers made it easier for information, business ideas, and technologies to flow into India.
• Most importantly, people from India who live in places like the U.K. are also involved in local politics. and Canada. The government has also asked people in the diaspora to spend in social projects like improving sanitation in rural areas and going to India every year to bring more tourists to the country. But Diasporas are important for more than just sending money back home. They also share knowledge and resources, act as unofficial Indian representatives, and push for India’s interests abroad.
Diaspora and Indian Interests
• It’s not clear what part diaspora plays in shaping India’s foreign policy goals and moving them forward. The most important thing the exiles did was help get the India-US Nuclear Deal passed in 2008. Still, as more people with Indian roots move up in politics, business, and entertainment outside of India, they will be more likely to spend in India and help India’s interests.
• Antonio Costa, who is the Prime Minister of Portugal, and Leo Varadkar, who is the Prime Minister of Ireland, are two good models.
Minister. Both are from the Indian diaspora and come from places with strong economies that can trade with India. Portugal and India have already signed MOUs about science and technology, avoiding double taxation, space, trade and investment, and avoiding double taxation.
• India and Portugal have also agreed to make a four-million-euro science fund that they will use to work together on study projects. Ireland and other countries with a big Indian population, like the Netherlands, are more likely to back India’s bid to join the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). If enough people from the diaspora push for this, it will be even more likely to happen.
• The diaspora in North America can also help India reach its space, military, and security goals. Groups like the United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) and Friends of India, Canada
The India Foundation (CIF) and the Canada India Business Council (CIBC) are already working hard to improve India’s economy interests.
• For example, the U.S. defence budget was passed in June 2017 at a cost of SUS621 billion. In his amendment, Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera called for “advanced defence cooperation between our two nations.” The amendment set a timeline of 180 days for the US to come up with a defence plan with India.
• In Canada, the CIF and the CIBC support better ties between the U.S. and Canada.
a free trade deal. Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s defence minister, went to India in April 2017 to improve security and connection between the two countries.
• About five to six million Indians live outside of India. This includes Indian citizens living abroad and people who were born in India.
People who are from India live in ASEAN countries. Ethnic Indians have been a big part of their societies for a long time. They have helped bring the two places together, and most people have a good view of Indians.
This is a key part of getting ASEAN and India to work together more.
• It is thought that, even though India is trying to get closer to Israel, it has a good relationship with Saudi Arabia. This may be in part because of the diaspora.
• Returning stolen items is a smaller but still important way that the Indian community abroad helps India reach its foreign policy goals. The Indian Pride Project, for example, was able to get the famous Nataraja statue brought back from Australia and the sandstone Yakshi statue brought back from the United States.
• India’s diaspora strategy still has some holes, though. These are the fact that diaspora conferences don’t happen often, that ties between India and the Gulf are based on the employer-employee model, that there are barriers to diaspora investment, and that not enough is being done to make brain gain happen. The diaspora isn’t helped automatically or all the time. They haven’t liked the way things are done in India, among other things.
Problems that the Indian diaspora has to face
• The Indian community is made up of different groups with different needs from the Indian government.
The Gulf diaspora, for example, looks to India for help with things like benefits.
While people from richer countries like the US look to India for ways to spend their money.
The Indian groups in Fiji and Mauritius, on the other hand, want to get back in touch with the country for cultural reasons.
• Anti-globalization: As the anti-globalization movement has grown, the number of crimes against the Indian people that are thought to be motivated by racism has gone up.
• West Asian Crisis: The instability in West Asia and the drop in oil prices have led people to worry that a lot of Indians will come back home, which would cut down on money sent home and put pressure on the job market.
• Returning Diaspora: India must also understand that the diaspora in West Asia is mostly semi-skilled and works mostly in the infrastructure sector. India should be ready for the possibility that its workers will come back after the building boom is over.
• Regulatory Cholesterol: The Indian system has many flaws that make it hard for people living outside of India to work with India or invest in the country.
For example, problems like red tape, multiple clearances, and distrust of the government are making it hard for Indian Diaspora to take advantage of chances.
• Bad Effects: It’s important to remember that a strong diaspora does not always mean that the home country gains.
India has had trouble with separatist groups like the Khalistan movement getting money and support from outside the country.
Way Forward
The Indian diaspora can give India the strategic push it needs, which makes it even more important to reach India’s full potential.
• India should make a new NRI policy, and the government should work right away with developed countries to ask them to give back some of the income tax money they get from Indians who live there.
This is fair because these countries didn’t do anything to create this talent, but they gain right away when the immigrant pays taxes in their home country.
• There needs to be a strategic plan for getting diaspora out of conflict zones in a world where crises happen without notice and give governments very little time to act.
• India’s foreign policy aims to turn relationships into benefits. For important projects like Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Make in India, Digital India, and Skill India, the diaspora has many ways to help.
• The VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty) plan is a step in the right direction. It aims to formalise a rotation programme in which top NRI scientists, engineers, doctors, managers, and other professionals serve for a short time in Indian public sector organisations and offer their expertise.
• Making it easier for businesses to do business will go a long way towards making it possible for the Indian diaspora to spend.
