Tapping the Indian Diaspora for Indian Development

According to the Government of India, there are over 20 million people of Indian origin living outside India (GOI 2000). They live in nearly every country of the world, and they span the spectrum of class, profession, and history—ranging from 5th generation descendants of indentured servants in the Caribbean, to 4th generation descendants of mercenaries and traders operating under British colonialism in Africa, to 2nd generation descendants of doctors and engineers in North America. Indians today continue to migrate outside India to work as undocumented construction workers or domestic servants in the Middle East, as taxi drivers in New Jersey, as CEOs of multinational banks in Latin America, and as information technology (IT) entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley. Given the magnitude and diversity of the Indian diaspora, it is surprising how little we know about their impact on India.