Why do Indians succeed all over the world and rise to the top like cream? The answer to this may give a clue to how India can rise to the top of the world table. Nearly 35 million overseas Indians, about 2.5 per cent of India’s population, are doing remarkably well in their adopted countries. The Singaporean diplomat and perceptive author Kishore Mahbubani, in his K R Narayanan Birth Centenary Lecture in 2021, argued that Indians do so well outside India because they are allowed to compete fairly and freely.
The evidence in favour of his argument is staggering. In the United States (US), no one expected Indian Americans — who make up 1.5 per cent of the population, with an average per capita income exceeding $70,000 — to be, on average, richer than White Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, and even Jewish Americans — who are noted for their wealth accumulation and business acumen. Some top 30 corporations now have Indian-origin chief executive officers (CEOs), and Indians dominate in health care and the sciences, especially in information technology-related sectors. Indian-origin politicians have also succeeded in reaching the highest offices in the US — senators, congressmen, presidential candidates, and top positions in the civil service.
But some critics argue that this is not surprising, since migration to the US was largely composed of highly educated Indians, especially graduates of its top engineering and medical schools. However, if you look across the world, Indians have also succeeded where migration has not been so selective and has included people from all strata of society — including poorer, less educated sections, often subject to severe discrimination.
People of Indian origin are among the most economically and socially successful demographic groups in the United Kingdom, where the initial wave of immigrants was not so well educated and suffered discrimination. They consistently outperform the national average — including the White British majority — across key metrics such as household wealth, employment rates, and educational attainment. British Indians have held some of the highest political offices in the country, including Rishi Sunak serving as prime minister breaking historical barriers.
And Indians who went as indentured labourers over a century ago to parts of the British Empire have also done remarkably well. Indo-Mauritians, who represent roughly 70 per cent of that island’s population, arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries as indentured labourers for British sugarcane plantations. Their monumental success stems from their demographic dominance, strategic transition to land ownership, strong education, and eventual political control, with per capita income above $14,000 today.
Indo-Trinidadians are extraordinarily successful, making up 37-42 per cent of the population and forming one of the nation’s largest ethnic groups. Starting as indentured labourers in 1845, they have achieved profound political and economic success. The community has held immense political power, with several Prime Ministers — such as Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Basdeo Panday — leading the country and with an average income above $20,000 today.
Indo-Guyanese successfully transitioned from agricultural labourers in the 19th and early 20th centuries to dominating local commerce, the rice and sugar industries, and holding key roles in Guyana’s rapidly expanding offshore oil economy, with an average income exceeding $33,000 today. Indo-Guyanese hold significant political power. Leaders of Indian descent, including current President Irfaan Ali and Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, lead the nation.
Indians in South Africa, roughly 2.6 per cent of the population, have achieved significant economic and political success. Despite severe historical oppression, the community has built prosperous businesses and produced key leaders who were instrumental in both the anti-apartheid struggle and South Africa’s modern democratic government. They achieved even greater economic success in East Africa and Fiji but were deliberately positioned between the colonial masters and the local population, creating resentment towards them and leading to their outmigration to Australia, the UK, and the US in search of better prospects. Rishi Sunak’s parents were part of this outmigration from East Africa to the UK.
Indian-origin individuals, particularly those tracing their roots back to the former territories of Goa and Daman & Diu, hold prominent positions as doctors, lawyers, politicians, and academics. Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who is of Goan maternal descent, stands as a prime example of this integration at the highest levels of leadership. The Indian diaspora in Ireland is phenomenally successful, well-integrated, and heavily represented in health care, technology, academia, and finance. This success is prominently epitomised by Leo Varadkar, who served as Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) from 2017 to 2020 and again from 2022 to 2024.
My point in showing this evidence of the success of the Indian diaspora is not to show off or crow about Indians abroad but to argue that if India wants to succeed, it must ask why all these Indians do so well when they leave India. The question is how can we create the competitive meritocratic system that allows Indians overseas to rise to the top, by reducing bureaucracy, widening access to education and finance and a fair rules-based system.
India now recognises the individual achievement of overseas Indians with a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award. Overseas Indians can now get an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card but would be even happier if they were allowed dual citizenship. India’s neighbours, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri-Lanka allow conditional dual citizenship. Only 30 countries in the world do not allow dual citizenship — mostly in Asia, including China, India, and Indonesia, and some in West Asia and Africa (see map). The concerns over security and loyalty that led India to deny dual citizenship at the time of independence may have had some logic then but are currently misplaced and should be reconsidered. Some ask whether overseas Indians contribute enough to India. They do send back huge remittances — the largest in the world — and could contribute even more.
 "Diaspora's global success: What India can learn from its overseas achievers")
