Can India Learn to Think Strategically About Its Diaspora?

Talented immigrants who would never subvert the politics or social culture of their host country is the USP of Indian migration. It is time to recognise this strategically.

- HINDOL SENGUPTA

Consider the following. There are approximately 220,000 Sikhs in Italy. One of the proudest achievements of the community that immigrated from India is saving parmesan cheese through their hard work and sustainable farming practices. In the UK, there are about 500,000 Sikhs, while in Canada, the number is approximately 750,000. In the US and in Australia, the Sikh community numbers around 250,000, and 200,000 respectively.

The question to ask is why is Khalistani extremism, a subset of the Sikh population in these countries, so aggressive in Canada, in the UK, the US, and even in pockets of Australia, while it is relatively subdued in Italy? The three answers of this question are clear—in Italy, unlike in other countries, the Khalistani groups have much less access to local political support. In Italy, the Khalistani groups have also not yet managed to create a united front with Islamist organisations, many of them with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Pakistan's notorious secret service, the ISI. Third, in Italy, where Hinduism is one of the fastest-growing faiths, the on-ground pushback is much stronger to Khalistani shenanigans.

There is a moral in this story—the world needs "better quality" immigration. Across the globe, some of the richest countries in the world cannot remain rich or prosperous in the next two-five decades. The chart with this article shows the extent of the crisis. And even though India too is already below replacement rate, it still has a lot of labour to spare, especially from states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which are still producing many, many babies.