By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri
Over 3000 delegates from 70 countries arrived in Odisha for the celebration of PravasiBharatiya Divas (PBD). This is the 18th edition of PBD taking place on 8th& 9th January in the temple city of Bhubaneshwar, with the theme ‘Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat’.
The President of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Christine Carla Kangaloo was the Chief Guest of the event. Dr. DevPragad, the CEO and Co-Founder of the NewsWeek was the guest of honour at the youth PBD. Also, there were ministerial delegations from Mauritius, Malaysia, South Africa, and big delegations from countries like Oman, Qatar, UAE, UK and USA.
The Prime Minister flagged off the inaugural run of a special tourist train called PravasiBharatiya Express, meant for the Diaspora. It would depart from Delhi, covering multiple tourist spots in three weeks. President Draupadi Murmu addressed the Valedictory Session of the conference offering awards to 27 members of the Diaspora who have made significant contribution to the development of their host countries as well as to India.
Since 2014, New Delhi has been investing in the Diaspora to promote India’s national interest. The Diaspora has been one of the key drivers of India’s foreign policy mainly in the following aspects. In cultural diplomacy, Bodhi dharma says, “If you cut the roots of a tree, it dies”. Uprooting a tree from its habitat is the sure way to destroy it. Comparing it to a human being, the cultural roots of persons anchor their lives, influencing their thinking and behavior. That is how a Diaspora connects emotionally with the communities and countries of their origin.
Diaspora understands the cultures of their host countries as well as of the countries of their origin and therefore becomes a bridge to the cultural divide. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called Indian Diaspora the ambassadors of Indian values, spirit and culture. He urges the Diaspora to be a solid bridge between their countries of origin and the countries of their domicile.
Second, Diaspora helps with lobbying and advocacy for India’s interest in their host countries and elsewhere. Diaspora has emerged as an important agency recognized as a ‘soft power’ in the field of foreign policy strategy. It acts as a catalyst for development of their countries of origin. For instance, in economic sphere, the Chinese Diaspora has been viewed by analysts as a propelling force in its emergence as an economic power. In the political sphere, the Jewish Diaspora has had a strong grip over the US and the European Union in shaping strategic relations with Israel.
Back home, the US-Indian community’s remarkable lobbying in cracking the Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement stands out as Diaspora contribution. On various occasions, Indian caucus on Capitol Hill and various other lobbying and advocacy groups have been instrumental in pushing India’s national and security interests. Diaspora helps building global networks by leveraging their transnational connections. They have played a key role in shaping public opinion and influencing policy decisions on their countries of residence.
On the negative side, the Diaspora has also been linked to security concerns in India. A few groups have been providing financial and material support to separatist movements in India. The Khalistani Sikhs in Canada is the prime example of such fissiparous elements in the Diaspora. The Kanishka Airline crash was the mastermind of the Canadian Sikh Diaspora. Likewise, the separatist movements in Kashmir and LTTE have received massive support from large sections of Diaspora. Diaspora funds radical civil society groups and militant organisations as a part of their support for sub-nationalism or other so-called grievances. Some Indian migrants to Gulf countries are indoctrinated and transformed to sleeper cells. They carry out and fund terrorist acts in India. SIMI and Indian Mujahidin are examples. The diverse Indian Diaspora becomes easy target for agencies like ISI, who uses them to destabilise peace and security in India. Headley and TahavurRana are well-known cases.
A peep into the history of Diaspora and India’s foreign policy reveals that, during pre-Independence period, plight of Indians abroad was a major issue for the Independence movement. After 1947, there was a paradigm shift in Diaspora policy owing to the strategies of anti-imperialism, non-alignment, and economic self-reliance etc. Notably, Pt Nehru categorically announced that the ethnic Indians who chose to remain abroad would consider themselves as citizens of their host countries and should integrate themselves with the culture of their residences and fight for their liberation etc.
There was hardly any change under Shastri or Indira Gandhi. In fact, the latter became quite unpopular for her indifference to East-African Indian crisis in 1968-72. Later, under oil shocks and BOP crisis, there was a push for remittance-centric approach, especially for Gulf Indians.Rajiv Gandhi partly recognised the importance of Diaspora and offered his support in handling the Fiji Indian crisis in 1986. He engaged a technocrat like Sam Pitroda in realizing his vision of 21st century. He also set up the Department of Indian Overseas Affairs.
The Sun shone brighter for the Diaspora under the NDA government led by BJP. The engagement of Diaspora had rapidly increased under Narasimha Rao’s economic restructuring in the wake of foreign reserve crisis in 1990s. The crisis was largely resolved due to substantial investment and remittances of the Indian Diaspora. However, it is the NDA government that made a huge shift in favour of the Diaspora to leverage them for promoting economic growth and fostering cultural nationalism.
The Chennai Declaration of BJP in 1999 demonstrates its position on Diaspora, “We believe that the vast community of NRIs and PIOs constitute a part of the Great Indian Family. We should endeavor to strengthen their social, cultural, economic and emotional ties with their mother country. They are a rich reservoir of the intellectual, managerial and entrepreneurial resources. The government should devise innovative schemes to facilitate the investment of such resources for India’s all-round development”.
Government of India under Narendra Modi has begun a good many Diaspora-centred initiatives. They include the appointment of a High-Level Committee on Indian Diaspora, launching the PIO card scheme, organising PBDs, giving away PBD Samman Awards, offering dual citizenship (OCI) and so on.
Indian Diaspora is by far the biggest in the world consisting of 25 million covering about 142 countries. It plays an important role in the global business and diplomacy and contributes to the growth and development of both their host and home countries. In fact, in terms of remittances, the biggest value associated with Diaspora, Overseas Indians have overtaken their Chinese counterparts. Indian Diaspora thus has been considered recently as a strategic asset. They are a microcosm of India. They have contributed in technology, philanthropy, set up cultural and educational institutions. They believe in giving it back to their home country. Indian Diaspora is treated across the world as a ‘model minority’ for their reliability, industriousness and loyalty.
One could argue that Diaspora policy and foreign policy go together. New Delhi, however, needs to do more to harness the full potential of the Diaspora. It can encourage the migration of semi-skilled and skilled Indians including in software industry to restructure Indian demography. A large number of Indians can be relocated in other countries which seek relevant human resources for the maintenance of their economies. Some additional thought for the good work on Diaspora. —INFA
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