India and Diaspora: India’s Diaspora Policy

India and Diaspora

• The term “diaspora” originally used for Jews living outside Israel, has come to be used for people who have spread or have been dispersed from their homeland (native country). The term in Indian context is used to describe Indian nationals and citizens living abroad for work or business.
• Diaspora serves as an important phenomenon for non-state actors, soft powers in foreign policy analysis, and an ‘inevitable link’ between the home and host lands for the people.
  • For instance, in the economic sphere, the Chinese diaspora has been a propelling force for its emergence as an economic superpower due to their significant contribution to FDI.
  • In the political sphere, the Jewish diaspora has a strong grip over the US and the European Union in terms of shaping their strategic relationship with Israel.

History of Emigration

• Large-scale migration from the Indian subcontinent became prominent in the 19th and 20th centuries. These waves of emigration produced several distinct diaspora types:
  • Indentured labour — colonial-era migrants sent to British plantation colonies
  • Professional migrants — those who emigrated to North America, Canada, and Europe, especially post-World War II
  • Gulf migrants — workers driven by the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s

Categories of the Indian Diaspora

• The Government of India officially classifies its diaspora into three categories:
  • Non-Resident Indians (NRIs): Indian nationals living abroad, primarily for employment, who retain Indian citizenship
  • Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs): Individuals or descendants of Indian nationals who now hold foreign citizenship
  • Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs): Persons registered under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, granted a special overseas citizenship status
• As of 2016, the Indian diaspora was estimated at approximately 31 million people — 17 million PIOs and 13 million NRIs.

Nature of the Diaspora

• The Indian diaspora is not a homogeneous group. It is diverse and stratified across multiple dimensions:
  • Class: Professionals, students, traders, businesspeople, and labourers
  • Religion, region, and ethnicity
  • Old diaspora vs. new diaspora
• Despite this diversity, the diaspora — especially in developed countries — has become increasingly significant due to its economic strength and growing political activism in both home and host countries.

Historical Background of India’s Diaspora Policy

1. Ancient and Medieval

• Indians have been migrating to various parts of the world for ages immemorial. The earliest emigration of Indians may be traced to the trade and religious contacts with other civilisations like the Greeks and the Mesopotamians. Later on, there were also instances of the Buddhist monks spreading the religion and religious gospels across South and Southeast Asia.
• Indians and Indian Kingdoms have spread over across the seas. However, population movements in the ancient phase never led to any formation of permanent Indian settlements abroad. Apart form the above, Indians had trade links with the East Africa through various groups such as the Ismailis, the Horas. The Ranyas and the Chettiyars under the banner of Nattukottai Chettiyar Association.
• Ever before the colonial indentured labour migration, population mobility was inherent in the social order and was observed in the case of the marginal peasants who shifted their loyalties from one master to another and hence traveled from one region to another.

2. Pre-Independence Diaspora Policy

• The British colonial government directly initiated and managed Indian emigration, primarily to address labour shortages in their plantation colonies. This period saw the rise of the exploitative indentured labour system and the Indian nationalist response to it.

The Indentured Labour System

• Following the ban on slavery in British colonies in the 1830s, Britain faced severe labour shortages on its plantation islands.
• To fill this gap, the British established a new system of indentured labour sourced from India, operating from 1840 to 1920.
• The British historian Tinker (1993) described this system as ‘slavery in disguise,’ noting it was functionally no less exploitative than slavery.
• The colonial government deliberately targeted poor peasants, untouchables, and Adi Dravidas — people easily uprooted due to economic and social hardship.
• Britain’s direct involvement in emigration ended once workers boarded ships; thereafter, the welfare of labourers at their destinations was largely ignored.

Destinations and Working Conditions

• Indentured labourers were sent primarily to:
  • Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, Surinam, Fiji, the Caribbean, South Africa, and South East Asia
• Key grievances included:
  • Being forced to sign contracts without understanding their terms
    • Severe penalties for any breach of contract
    • Poor working conditions, long hours, and inadequate housing
    • Racial discrimination and lack of political representation
    • Substandard access to education, healthcare, and transport

Indian National Congress: Initial Response

• As exploitation of overseas Indians grew, nationalist leaders took up their cause. The Indian National Congress (INC) became the primary vehicle for advocacy:
  • Demanded equality of rights and fair treatment for Indian labour overseas — equal to that of local populations
  • Pressured the colonial government to act against exploitation and uphold labourers’ rights
  • Raised public awareness about the miserable conditions of overseas workers and pushed for a ban on forced recruitment
  • Initially relied on the colonial state as the primary instrument for redress — both for indentured workers and voluntary migrants
  • Appealed to both the British government and colonial governments in host territories
• Under sustained pressure from the INC and labourers’ families, the colonial government did form commissions to investigate conditions and suggest reforms. One recommendation was that workers be granted land and freedom after completing their indenture, but this faced opposition from plantation owners and was not effectively implemented.

Gandhi’s Efforts in South Africa

• Mahatma Gandhi, himself an overseas Indian, took a prominent role in fighting for diaspora rights:
  • Fought for the rights of Indians in Natal province, South Africa
  • Opposed the Natal government’s 1894 disenfranchisement of Indians
  • Led the Satyagraha movement against the ‘Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance, 1906’ (the Black Act)
  • Gandhi and his companions were repeatedly imprisoned, yet continued their resistance
  • Eventually, the Natal government yielded to Gandhi’s demands, aided by national pressure from India and some pressure from the British
• However, South Africa then attempted to repatriate Indians — forcibly sending them back to India — which was again viewed as a violation of their rights of settlement. The colonial government’s response was to categorise the Indian diaspora as subjects of their colony of residence, not of India. The British did not take the concerns of Indians in Africa seriously until 1914, when political agitation in India forced a reconsideration of the legal position.

Achievements of the INC

• By the early 20th century, sustained efforts began yielding incremental results:
  • Indian leaders raised concerns about racial discrimination and other grievances at international forums, including the League of Nations
  • INC sent missions to Fiji, Malaya, Ceylon, Zanzibar, and South Africa to pressure the colonial government
  • A dedicated Department of Overseas Indians was established under the AICC General Secretary in 1929 to maintain links with overseas Indians
  • Links were also maintained through various affiliated overseas Indian organisations
  • The INC advocated for the right of overseas citizens to citizenship in their country of settlement
• Limitations remained significant, however:
  • Indian elites showed interest but could not substantially change the situation of overseas Indians
  • The colonial government remained largely inactive — for example, when South Africa enacted the discriminatory Pegging Act of 1943 (restricting Indian land purchases in Natal and Transvaal), India did not oppose it
  • Nationalists argued that a colonial government that was itself subjugating Indians at home could not be expected to resist subjugation of Indians abroad
• Over time, the INC linked the emancipation of overseas Indians directly to India’s own independence. In 1940, the indentured labour system was formally abolished. India gained independence a few years later.

3. Post-Independence Diaspora Policy

• After independence in 1947, India’s approach to its diaspora shifted markedly. Under Nehru, the priority was building a self-sufficient nation with a strong foreign policy — and the diaspora was not seen as a key actor in that project.

The Nehru Era: Disengagement from Diaspora

• India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, pursued a policy of “active dissociation” from the Indian diaspora.
• Nehru’s foreign policy was guided by principles of anti-imperialism, non-alignment, sovereignty, and secularism
• The diaspora was not assigned any meaningful role in India’s economic or political development
• Nehru viewed diaspora as subjects of their host countries, encouraging them to integrate and consider themselves nationals of where they lived.
• His cold view of overseas Indians was encapsulated in a comment made in India’s Parliament in 1957: “If they adopt the nationality of that country, we have no concern with them. Sentimental concern there is, but politically, they cease to be Indian nationals.”
  • The implication of Nehru’s views was that the diaspora could not expect India to fight for their rights, and therefore, India’s foreign policy was accordingly structured as a model of non-interference whenever the emigrant Indians got into trouble in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, etc.
    • However, Lai Bahadur Shastri entered into an agreement with Sirimavo Bandaranaike to resolve the question of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and made a beginning. Otherwise, the Nehruvian trend was continued and extended till 1980 by successive governments.
• India’s ties with the diaspora were to be ‘cultural and humanitarian, but not political’ — pre-independence political links with overseas organisations were deliberately loosened
• India did, however, maintain a moral stance that overseas Indians deserved equal rights and treatment in their host countries.

Nehru stated in the Indian Assembly in March 1948:

“Now these Indians abroad, what are they? Are they Indian citizens — are they going to be citizens of India or not? If they are not, then our interest in them becomes cultural, humanitarian and political.”

Inaction Through the 1950s–70s

• No dedicated machinery was created to deal with diaspora questions during this period
• Diaspora issues were addressed only on an ad hoc, bilateral basis with host governments — for example, dealing with Indian Tamils caught in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict
• The potential of the diaspora as a transnational actor — economically, culturally, technologically, and politically — was not recognised or utilised
• In the 1970s, diaspora voices called for participation in Indian elections, but this was rejected
• In 1978, the Gulf diaspora demanded representation in Punjab and Kerala state assemblies and overseas seats in Parliament — this too was rejected

In the absence of home-government support, the Indian diaspora formed its own organisations based on ethnicity, culture, religion, and pan-Indian identity. These organisations helped communities defend against racial discrimination, maintain cultural traditions, and lobby for their interests in host countries.

4. Shifts in Diaspora Policy Since the 1970s

The Janata Government (1977): A Policy Turn

• When the Janata Party came to power in 1977, India’s diaspora policy began to change
• The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) was assigned responsibility for diaspora affairs
• The Department of Overseas Indians — which had existed in the Ministry of External Affairs in the 1950s — was revived to study and address diaspora concerns

Post-Cold War Shift (Late 1980s Onwards)

• The end of the Cold War brought a sharp reorientation of Indian foreign policy:
  • India began viewing its diaspora as crucial transnational actors with economic, political, cultural, and social relevance
  • This shift coincided with the global wave of liberalisation, globalisation, and privatisation
  • Labour migration to the Gulf increased following the oil boom; simultaneously, a large wave of highly qualified professionals moved to the US, UK, Canada, and Australia
  • These professional emigrants’ growing economic, political, technological, and social clout elevated the profile of the Indian diaspora internationally
• Economically, liberalisation opened India to trade, FDI, and multinational investment. Remittances became a major source of income for Indian families. The diaspora was now seen as a key engine for economic development.

The NDA Government (1998): Active Engagement

• The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, significantly elevated the diaspora’s role. The BJP’s Chennai Declaration stated:
  • “We believe that the vast community of NRIs and PIOs also constitute a part of the ‘Great Indian Family’. They are a rich reservoir of intellectual, managerial and entrepreneurial resources. The government should devise innovative schemes to facilitate the investment of these resources for India’s all-round development.”
• Key initiatives launched by the NDA government:
  • Appointment of a High Level Committee (HLC) on Indian Diaspora, chaired by Dr. L.M. Singhvi (announced August 2000)
  • Launch of the PIO Card Scheme
  • Institution of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas — an annual diaspora convention (first held 2003)
  • Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards — recognising outstanding contributions by diaspora members

Diaspora as a Political and Security Lobby

• India’s diaspora, particularly in the US and UK, emerged as a powerful lobby group:
  • Indian-American lobbying was instrumental in securing the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal
  • Diaspora groups lobbied against the Burton Amendment and succeeded in defeating it
  • The diaspora defended India’s nuclear tests in 1998 in the face of international criticism
  • During the Kargil War (1999), diaspora lobbied the US Congress to pressure Pakistan to halt violations
  • Indian caucus groups on Capitol Hill advanced India’s national and security interests

The High Level Committee Report (2002)

• The HLC, headed by Dr. Singhvi, released its comprehensive report in 2002. The report:
  • Documented the achievements, weaknesses, and problems of the Indian diaspora in host countries
  • Proposed a policy framework to strengthen bonds between India and its diaspora
  • Recommended establishing a single-window mechanism for NRI interactions with the government

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (2004)

• In 2004, the Indian government established a dedicated Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA)
• In 2016, MOIA was merged with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), integrating diaspora policy into broader foreign policy

5. The Modi Era (2014 Onwards): Proactive Engagement

• The Modi government has been particularly proactive in diaspora engagement. Diaspora now plays a significant role during Indian elections, through donations, financial support to political parties, and party offices established abroad.
• Narendra Modi, after assuming the office of Prime Minister in 2014, has brought the linkage between Indian diasporic community and development of the country. Since then, diaspora has become an important feature of Indian foreign policy, which is now centred on strengthening the role and significance of Indian diasporic community in the development of the country, in addition to attracting global investment, aid and technology.
• The current government has launched a scheme called ‘Know India Program’ (KIP) in 2016 for diaspora engagement, which familiarises Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India.

Current Schemes and Programmes

• The Indian government currently offers a wide range of programmes for its diaspora:
  • National Pension Scheme for NRIs
  • Scholarship programmes for diaspora children
  • Indian Community Welfare Fund
  • Student Registration Portal
  • India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians
  • Know India Programme (MEA)
  • Know Goa Programme (MEA)
  • Bharat Ko Janiye Online Quiz (MEA)

eMigrate Platform

• To protect workers emigrating to 18 ECR (Emigration Check Required) countries, the government launched the eMigrate electronic platform:
  • Makes it mandatory for ECR workers to register through licensed recruiting agents only
  • Interconnects key stakeholders: Protector General of Emigrants, recruiting agents, employers, Passport Seva, Bureau of Immigration
  • Enables safe and legal migration by reducing the risk of illegal intermediaries

• The migration in the post-colonial period was entirely different when compared with the earlier forms of migration in the ancient-medieval and the colonial phases. Here, the migrants are mostly from the middleclass, with instruction in English, and were skilled.
• The educational system in post-Independent India was patterned after the British and American educational systems. The system produced professionals who outnumbered the availability of jobs that can absorb them. The migration was mainly to the developed nations of the West, the U.S., the U.K., and some in Europe and Australia.
• In the last few decades, a considerable number of professional, semi-skilled and unskilled workers, as well as students from India, have shifted abroad.
• According to the World Migration Report 2024, India is the origin of the largest number of international migrants in the world (nearly 18 million), with large diasporas in countries like the UAE, the US, and Saudi Arabia.
  • The report highlighted that Mexico, China, the Philippines, and France were the other four nations in the top five remittance recipient countries, with India being the top country receiving remittances in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2022.
  • International remittances increased by 650% from USD 128 billion to USD 831 billion between 2000 and 2022 with India receiving the highest remittances at USD 111 billion in 2022 followed by Mexico.
    • USD 647 billion of the total remittances were sent by migrants to low- and middle-income countries.
• Today, the Indian diaspora is more prosperous than before and its involvement in India’s development is increasing. It contributes by way of remittances, investment, lobbying for India, promoting Indian culture abroad and for building a good image of India by their intelligence and industry.

Significance of Indian Diaspora

Strategic Advances

• This change in Indian diaspora policy is reflected in special outreach to Indian communities during Prime Minister’s visits to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
• Moreover, the government has made a conscious effort to reconnect the Indians living abroad to their homeland by simplifying visa regulations and merging the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Card into a single identity card to secure lifelong Indian visas, avoid checks at local police stations during visits, and started a Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs among many other initiatives.
• This diaspora policy not only focuses on the rich, industrialists, and white-collar professionals but also gives due respect to the working-class population. It is evident from the PM’s visit to the Indian workers’ camp in Abu Dhabi, establishing the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), and announcing an online platform, ‘MADAD’ to assist them. In 2015, the Indian government launched Operation Rahat to evacuate Indian citizens when war broke out in Yemen. The Union Cabinet has also approved proxy voting for non-resident Indians.

Political Front

• Many people of Indian origin hold top political positions in many countries, in the US itself they are now a significant part of Republicans and Democrats, as well as the government.
• The political clout of India’s diaspora can be estimated by the fact, the role it played in turning around doubting legislators into voting for the India-U.S. nuclear deal.

Foreign Policy Front

• Indian diaspora is not just a part of India’s soft power, but a fully transferable political vote bank as well.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reception at Madison Square Garden is a way of thanking the Indian-American community members who played a big part in his electronic campaign and election funding.
• The institutionalisation of “diaspora diplomacy” is a distinct indication for the fact that a country’s diaspora community has become considerably more important as a subject of interest for foreign policy and associated government activities.

Economic Strength

• The diaspora has not only contributed through FDI, remittances and transfer of knowledge and entrepreneurial means but also through the rise of the services sector in India, especially in the IT and ITES sectors.
• Indian diaspora is one of the richest minorities in many developed countries, this helped them to lobby for favourable terms regarding India’s interests. For example, at 2.8 million, Indians may number just 1% of the U.S. population, but they are the most educated and richest minority, according to a 2013 Pew survey.
• The migration of less-skilled labour (especially to West Asia) has also helped in bringing down disguised unemployment in India.
• In general, migrants’ remittances have positive systemic effects on the balance of payments. Remittances of $70-80 billion help to bridge a wider trade deficit.
  • India retained the top spot among world’s largest remittance recipient country in 2018 getting $80 billion. FDI inflows increased from $36 billion in 2013-14 to $60 billion in 2016-17.
• By weaving a web of cross-national networks, the migrant workers facilitated the flow of tacit information, commercial and business ideas, and technologies into India.
• Most importantly, the Indian diaspora is also active in local politics in countries like the U.K. and Canada. The government has also urged diaspora members to invest in social projects such as improving rural sanitation and visiting India every year to boost tourism. However, the importance of Diasporas does not end with remittances alone, but extends to knowledge transfer, the sharing of resources, acting as unofficial Indian ambassadors , and pushing for India’s interests abroad.

Diaspora and Indian Interests

• The role of diaspora in shaping and furthering India’s foreign policy goals is unclear. The most successful role the diaspora played was in ensuring the passage of the India-US Nuclear Deal in 2008. Nevertheless, as more people of Indian origin take up larger roles in politics, business and entertainment abroad, they will be more likely to not only invest in India but also help further India’s interests.
• Two good examples are Antonio Costa, the Portuguese Prime Minister, and Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Prime
  Minister. Both belong to the Indian diaspora, and come from two economically strong countries that can trade with India. Portugal has already signed MOUs with India in science and technology, double taxation avoidance, space, trade and investment.
• Further, India and Portugal have agreed to create a joint science fund of four million Euros where they will collaborate in science research projects. As for Ireland and other countries like the Netherlands with a large Indian diaspora, they are more likely to support India in her bid to join the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). This will be even more likely with enough pressure from the diaspora.
• India can also benefit from the diaspora in North America in achieving her space, defence and security goals. Groups like the United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), Friends of India, Canada India Foundation (CIF) and Canada India Business Council (CIBC), are already actively pushing for India’s interests.
• Take for example the recent passing of the American defence budget in June 2017, to talling SUS621 billion, where Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, stressed in his amendment for “advanced defence cooperation between our two nations”. The amendment included a 180-day deadline for the US to develop its defence strategy with India.
• In Canada, the CIF and the CIBC are proponents of stronger ties between the two states, even supporting a free trade deal. In April 2017, Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s defence minister, visited India to strengthen defence ties between the two nations.
• Similarly, about five to six million overseas Indians, comprising Indian citizens abroad and persons of Indian origin, live in ASEAN countries. Ethnic Indians have long been an integral part of their societies. They have acted as a bridge between the two regions, and the overall public opinion towards Indians is positive. This plays a key role in developing closer ASEAN-India ties.
• It is held that despite India pursuing stronger ties with Israel, it enjoys a favourable relationship with the Saudi Arabia, perhaps to an extent due to the presence of the diaspora.
• Smaller but equally important way in which the Indian community abroad helps further India’s foreign policy goals, is by helping in the return of stolen artefacts. The Indian Pride Project for example successfully lobbied to bring back the famous Nataraja from Australia, and sandstone Yakshi from the United States.
• However, some gaps remain in India’s diaspora policy. These are irregularity of diaspora conferences, employer-employee mode of India-Gulf relations, hurdles to diaspora investment and poor efforts to bring about brain gain. The support of the diaspora is neither automatic nor continuous. They have been critical of bureaucratic procedures in India among other issues.

Challenges Faced by Indian Diaspora

• Heterogeneous diaspora: Indian Diaspora has different demands from the Indian Government.
  • The diaspora from the Gulf, for example, look to India for support on welfare issues.
  • While those from wealthier nations such as the US look to India for investment opportunities.
  • The Indian communities in countries such as Fiji and Mauritius, meanwhile, desire to reconnect with the country on cultural grounds.
• Anti-Globalization: With the rising Anti-globalization wave, there has been an increase in the incidents of suspected hate crimes against the Indian community.
• West Asian Crisis: The volatility in West Asia, together with the fall in oil prices, has caused fears of a massive return of Indian nationals, curtailing remittances and making demands on the job market.
• Returning Diaspora: India must also realise that diaspora in West Asia is semi-skilled and mainly engaged in the infrastructure sector. After the infrastructure boom will get over India should be ready for the eventuality of Indian workers returning.
• Regulatory Cholesterol: There are many inadequacies of the Indian system for the diaspora to collaborate with India or to invest in the country.
  • For example, grievances like red tape, multiple clearances, distrust of government are acting as hindrances in fulfilling opportunities presented by Indian Diaspora.
• Negative Fallout: It must be remembered that having a strong diaspora does not always translate to benefits for the home country.
  India has had problems with negative campaigning and foreign funding, coming from abroad, for separatist movements like the Khalistan movement.

Way Forward

Indian diaspora can provide the requisite strategic impulse, which makes it all the more important to unlock India’s potential.

• India should formulate a new NRI policy, the government must immediately work with developed countries to ask that they kick back a portion of the income tax revenues they collect from the Indian diaspora.
  • This is fair because these countries did not invest anything in creating this talent but benefit immediately when the immigrant pays taxes abroad.
• There is a need for a strategic diaspora evacuation policy from conflict zones in a world where crises materialise without warnings and give very little reaction time for governments.
• India’s foreign policy aims to translate partnerships to benefits for key projects like Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Make In India, Digital India, and Skill India, the diaspora has plenty of scopes to contribute.
• VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty) scheme which seeks to formalise a rotation program wherein top NRI scientists, engineers, doctors, managers and professionals serve Indian public sector organizations for a brief period, lending their expertise- is a step in the right direction.
• Improvement in ease of doing business will go long, in enabling investments from the Indian diaspora.