Dealing with the diaspora

There are worrying signs that in the next decade the Indian diaspora will begin to create more complications for Indian foreign and domestic policy than it hitherto has

The Indian diaspora has traditionally been a source of strength for the country’s foreign policy. In most areas where Indian migrants have settled, particularly in the West, they are seen by local policymakers as well as those in New Delhi as a non-threatening bridge between the two countries. This is particularly true of those countries, such as the United States, where Indian-origin residents are among the most productive ethnicities. Indian-Americans, for example, have by many estimates the highest median income among their peers; they are viewed, therefore, even by relatively migration-unfriendly politicians, as a “model minority”. In various parts of