Why diaspora matters? Examining influence of US-based Indians in politics

PM Narendra Modi has attended at least half a dozen diaspora events in the US from his first visit in September 2014 to his eighth in June 2023

In an interview in January 2015, a month before the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spectacularly swept the Delhi Assembly polls, party chief Arvind Kejriwal conceded in an interview to a news agency that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “appeal” had “affected” his party’s diaspora support.

Until then, for Kejriwal and his associates, who launched AAP in November 2012, support from the Indian diaspora, especially Indian Americans, was substantial to its coffers and its election campaigning. A United Progressive Alliance government probe in early 2014 found that almost a fifth of the funds AAP raised through crowdsourcing came from non-resident Indians (NRIs).

As Gujarat’s chief minister, Modi had maintained a sustained outreach to NRIs, particularly the financially influential Gujarati diaspora in the US, since nearly a fourth of the 5.4 million Indian Americans trace their roots to Gujarat. With the US denying him a visa, Modi took to addressing the Gujarati diaspora events via video link, such as the World Gujarati Conference and Gujarat Divas celebrations.
 

During his tenure as Gujarat CM, the state government started holding the annual Vibrant Gujarat Summit, where it hosted investors from across the world, including Gujaratis living abroad. In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the US offshoots of the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh helped Modi’s election campaign, reaching out to other linguistic communities among Indian Americans.

 

10 years of MSG
 

Beginning with his first visit to the US as prime minister in September 2014, when he addressed 20,000 Indian Americans at New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG), until his eighth in June 2023, Modi has attended at least half dozen diaspora events in that country, including the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston in 2019, which US President Donald Trump attended.

On Sunday, an event that will mark 10 years of his MSG address and his return as India’s PM for a third successive occasion, Modi will address Indian Americans at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island. The event is titled, “Modi and US: Progress Together”. On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri described the Indian American community as a “living bridge” between India and the US.  
 

Organisers of the event have said that over 24,000 people have registered for the event, while the venue’s seating capacity is only 15,000. The Indo-American Community of USA, the organiser of the event, has stressed that it is “committed to making the event as inclusive as possible”.
 

Earlier in the month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in the US, addressing university students and interacting with journalists. The Congress party and Gandhi were late in galvanising its overseas arm, the Indian Overseas Congress, to reach out to its supporters among the Indian diaspora in the US. But its engagement with diverse Indian American religious and linguistic communities has become more cohesive in the last few years. Both Modi and Gandhi’s visits to the US come with the presidential elections less than two months away.
 

As for AAP, its support base across the diverse Indian American communities might have dwindled since 2013-14. It had successfully galvanised Punjabis living in the US, UK and Canada for its 2022 Punjab Assembly poll campaign. The Punjabi community in these countries had also rallied in support of the farmers’ protest of 2020-21 against the three central laws.

 

Outsized impact
 

The Ministry of External Affairs estimates that Indian Americans are 5.4 million strong, including 2.07 million NRIs and 3.33 million People of Indian Origin, or PIOs. In contrast, 3.6 million NRIs are in the United Arab Emirates and 9.5 million Indians, mostly blue collar workers, live and work across West Asia. They also contribute the largest share to India’s remittances.

But, a report released in June this year by Indiaspora, a US-based non-profit organisation, with help from Boston Consulting Group, notes that Indian Americans are wealthier, better qualified, and despite being a mere 1.5 per cent of the total population of the US, and by virtue of living in a democratic country, continue “to have an outsized impact on multiple aspects of American life, from the economics to the cultural”.

The report titled, ‘Small Community, Big Contributions, Boundless Horizons’, documents the Indian Americans’ role across politics, business, academia, and culture. It finds that nearly 78 per cent of Indian Americans hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, which is more than twice of the US national average of 36 per cent. The median income of Indian Americans (2020 data) is $136,000, which is almost double that of the US population.
 

It says the Indian diaspora, with its median age being 36, is young, lives in multigenerational homes, where Indian identity and traditions remain strong, helping its growing influence on the broader US culture. According to the report, 60 per cent of all US hotels are owned by members of the diaspora. It also controls an estimated 35 to 50 per cent of all convenience stores in the US, which generate $350-$490 billion in revenues each year.
 

The Indian diaspora contributes 5 to 6 per cent ($300 billion) in tax revenues annually to the US federal coffers, 25 per cent of international students to the US each year are of Indian origin and one in every 10 physicians in the US is an Indian American. As the report documents, this financial heft has influence not just in the US social sphere but also in India.
 

For example, donations from the US to India under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) increased from $782 million in 2015-16 to $831 million in 2018-19. Donations from the US are 35 per cent of all FCRA donations, the largest from any country. Notable contributions in 2022 were by the Rural India Supporting Trust ($39 million), Pratham USA ($17 million) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation ($10 million).
 

Remittances from the US to India accounted for $26 billion, or 23 per cent of the total remittances of $113 billion that India received in 2022-2023. Diaspora connections have also helped across sectors, especially in advanced innovation and scientific research. Since the turn of the century, US companies have invested $63 billion in FDI in India, while Indian companies have invested more than $40 billion in the US, creating 426,000 jobs in that country, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry.
 

Indian Americans, in recent decades, have also come to play an important role in American politics. This includes Vice President Kamala Harris and other leading politicians such as Nikki Haley, Pramila Jayapal, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Indian American diaspora, as it increases in number and in its influence across sectors of American society, business, and politics, and with its continued rootedness with Indian traditions and family connections in India, is likely to become more important for Indian politicians and political parties.



Why Indians matter in US 

5.1 mn  Indian Americans comprised the Indian diaspora (those born in India and in the US) as of 2020

• Of these, 2.8 mn are first-generation immigrants, according to Migration Policy Institute
   
• 30% of the 5.1 mn migrated to the US before 2000, 45% after 2010
   
• 78% of Indian Americans hold bachelor’s degree or higher (US national average is 36%)
   
• 320,000 work visas issued to Indian diaspora in 2022-23, which is 73% of all work visas by the US
   
• Median income is $136,000 (almost double the US population average)
   
• Indian-origin CEOs helmed 16 Fortune 500 companies in 2023 (3%)
   
• Of the 358 unicorns in the US founded by first-generation immigrants in 2018-23, 72 (20%) have Indian migrants as founders or co-founders
   
• 60% of all US hotels are owned by members of the diaspora
   
• Indian Americans own 35%-50% of all convenience stores in the US
   
• Indian diaspora, 1.5% of US population, contributes 5-6% ($300 billion) in tax revenues annually to the US federal coffers
   
• In addition, they record $370-$460 billion in annual spending
   
• Under the FCRA, donations from the US to India increased from $782 million in 2015-16 to $831 million in 2018-19
   
• Indian Americans’ presence in successive US administrations increased from 1.7% in 2013 to 4.4% in 2023, with over 150 Indian Americans in pivotal roles in 2023, including Vice President Kamala Harris