Kamala to Rishi: Indianisation at the top in full swing

 From the American Vice President Kamala Harris to the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sundar Pichai of Google, the People of Indian Origin (PIO) are literally ruling the roost from politics to business, science and technology. While the global community is talking of the decisive role of the Indians across many domains contributing to knowledge enrichment, health security and sustainable climate, the Indian people and media are rejoicing over their increasing global footprints on strength of knowledge, skills and dedicated services. 

Scaling a remarkable feat, Rishi Sunak, an Indian origin leader, has become the head of the government of the same country which had ruled India for almost 200 years. Interestingly, analysts are reminding that India and the Indians have travelled such a long journey, especially in the last 75 years of its independence, discarding the infamous quote of the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who had commented that all the Indian leaders were of low calibre and men of straw. 

Though people know about Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, it may be underlined that Rishi Sunak is another top elected representative among the galaxies of PIO who have been either the head of the state or the government from the Americas to Australia. At least 200 leaders of Indian origin have held important public positions in 15 countries out of which about 60 leaders hold cabinet positions in different countries.

Presently, there are seven countries in the world where the Indian origin people are at the helm of affairs. Europe has seen many prominent Indian origin leaders; among them is Antonio Costa, the Prime Minister of Portugal since 2015 and an OCI card holder. 

In the Indian Ocean, Mauritius has both its President and Prime Minister of Indian origin. While Prithvirajsingh Roopun is the current President, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth whose roots are associated with Bihar, is the Prime Minister. His father Anerood Jugnauth served both as the President and Prime Minister of Mauritius for long time. In neighbouring Seychelles, President Wavel Ramakalawan’s ancestors were also from Bihar. In Singapore, Halimah Yacob, who has been serving as the country’s eighth president since 2017, is also of Indian origin. Her mother was of Malay origin. 

Chandrika Prasad Santokhi, the Indian-origin President of the Latin American country Suriname, even took his oath in Sanskrit. Over one-fourth of the Surinamese are of Indian origin, and ‘Sarnami’, a common language spoken there is a dialect of Bhojpuri. Caribbean country Guyana has both its President Irfan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Indian origin. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris was given the powers of the US presidency for 85 minutes in 2021. With this, Kamala Harris became the first woman in American history to hold the presidency.

Fiji, Ireland, and Trinidad and Tobago were also served by the leaders of the Indian origin in recent times. 

Thus, we find that India boasts of the largest diaspora population in the world, and the Indians have proven their credentials across the continents in sync with the global indianisation with about 18 million people of India diaspora living outside India, especially in the USA, UAE, KSA, Australia, and Great Britain among others. They are playing an amazing role serving their adopted country and contributing to the skill development, knowledge enrichment and sustainable development. The Indians’ contribution in bolstering peace, progress and prosperity, especially in these challenging times when geopolitical order seems to be in doldrums, so is the socio-economic disparity arising out of the Ukraine crisis, fiscal slowdown, food and energy crises to name a few which are prerequisite to fuel the global growth. The international community is looking at India and the Indians to tide over the crisis, from infodemic to pandemic and digital divide. The rise of leaders like Kamala Harris and Rishi Sunak once again propels our belief in the culture of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and treating the entire world as a family in the service of humanity. 

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Prof (Dr) Ajitabh

Head - J&MC Dept