Answer: India has one of the largest diaspora populations in the world, with over 30 million, including Non Resident Indians (NRI’s) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO’s). Championing India’s cause on international issues and making a mark on the global stage economically, they are one of the most vital components of India’s soft power. India’s diaspora can contribute significantly to each of the five pillars identified under our vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat i.e. economy, infrastructure, demography, democracy and supply chains. This is owing to the following:

• Strategic Asset: Indian diaspora can be developed into a ‘strategic asset’ and leveraged to play the role of facilitator in globalising the Indian trade/export through their global network and bringing investment across many small cities of the country.
• Centre of World Affairs: The direction of change in the world regarding self-reliance and creation of alternate supply chains, offers an opportunity for India to leverage its diaspora to play a significant role in keeping India at the centre of global affairs.
• Strengthening India’s image: The outflow of the Indian diaspora has positively transformed the perception of the world towards us. The dominance of Indians in computer software, particularly in the Silicon Valley, has strengthened the image of India as a technology powerhouse and a source of quality human resources. Notable Indians like Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Indra Nooyi, Vinod Khosla, Deepak Chopra and many others have reached the highest echelons in their respective sectors.
• Investments: With a focus on ‘Make in India’, Indian diaspora can be facilitated to contribute to the Indian development story by investing in the greenfield and brownfield projects, as well as, portfolio investments in India. It is worth noting that India became the largest recipient of remittances in the world (87 billion USD in 2021).
• Guiding Policy: With the world order witnessing a structural shift in terms of high skill jobs and high value of the future, the Indian diaspora can guide policy-makers in the field of the high technology driven sectors like Al, ML etc. and make India self-reliant in them.

India wants to leverage its diaspora to build greater domestic capacity and enhance its contribution to the world. However, there remain certain challenges existing in this regard:

• Lack of automatic correlation: A significant proportion of our diaspora hold back from having business interests in India. India must work towards establishing a conducive and business friendly environment for the diaspora to contribute to their home countries and confidently create an outreach strategy in their areas of influence.
• Stricter Norms: Rising protectionism and efforts to regain their importance in the global value chain, has created concerns related to stricter immigration and visa norms across countries including the USA, Australia, etc.
• Heterogeneous demands: Given its diversity, it will be challenging for the Indian government to accommodate varied expectations and demands of the diaspora. For instance, diaspora in the Gulf wants India’s support on welfare issues; those in the US look to India for investment opportunities; while those from Fiji and Mauritius wish to reconnect with the country on cultural grounds.
• Security challenges: Sectarian crisis, increasing terrorist activities and strife and wars in the Middle East countries (Yemen, Oman, Libya, Syria etc.) leave our diaspora vulnerable to attacks.

The Indian government has taken various initiatives such as OCI Card Scheme, Ease of doing business, Know India program and Study India Program and Launch of informative projects etc. to facilitate greater interaction with our diaspora. However, there is a need for further incentivising and accommodating their expectations, if India wants to achieve the target of becoming a $5 trillion economy.