THE FUTURE IS BROWN-ISH

THE INDIAN CAPACITY FOR ASSIMILATION WILL PLAY A HUGE PART IN HOW AND WHY INDIANS WILL SHAPE THE WORLD

- Parag Khanna

The next wave of global Indian migrants may be much larger than what the world has experienced so far. With a much younger median age than China, India has 600 million youth under the age of 25. Already 3.1 million of the highly skilled foreign workers in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries were born in India, far higher than China’s 2.2 million. Given the post-Covid economic crash and the country’s sinister levels of pollution, Indians are more motivated to leave the country than ever before. As India expands its universities, even more Indians will qualify for graduate degrees in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and Singapore. Chinese students presently outnumber Indians on Western campuses, but the runway for India to catch up is long. Furthermore, Indians do not face the suspicions the Chinese do. With their combination of English language, technical education and strategically non-threatening identity, Indians are welcome everywhere, especially where Chinese no longer are.