E-Paper
Country Profile - North America: USA
At 1.7 million and 0.6% of the total US population of 280 million, the Indian community enjoys the distinction of being one of the highest earning, best educated and fastest growing ethnic groups, and that too in the most powerful country in the world.
At 1.7 million and 0.6% of the total US population of 280 million, the Indian community enjoys the distinction of being one of the highest earning, best educated and fastest growing ethnic groups, and that too in the most powerful country in the world.
Their high levels of literacy, economic success, knowledge of English and experience with democracy in their home country has eased their transition in the land of their adoption. Indian Americans are found in the following high profile occupations and sectors - medicine, engineering, law, Information Technology, international finance, management, higher education, mainstream and ethnic journalism, writing, films and music.
They also work in real estate, retailing and agriculture and as taxi operators, factory workers and newsstand workers. The Indo-American community in the US reflects the diversity of India. Remarkably, first generation Indian Americans have been able to transmit some of their attachment to their culture and traditions to the second generation.
The heightened awareness in the mainstream communities of the uniqueness of Indian culture has reinforced the community's pride in it.
A section of financially powerful and politically well-connected Indo-Americans has emerged during the last decade. They have effectively mobilised on issues ranging from the nuclear tests in 1998 to Kargil, played a crucial role in generating a favourable climate of opinion in Congress and defeating anti-India legislation there, and lobbied effectively on other issues of concern to the Indian community.
They have also demonstrated willingness to contribute financially to Indian causes, such as relief for the Orissa cyclone and the Latur and Gujarat earthquakes, higher technical education and innumerable charitable causes. They would also be keen to invest if the issue of corruption and related procedural obstacles are sorted out.
Indian Americans also have umbilical ties to the Indian Information Technology sector. Several Indian IT graduates have emerged as important entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Overnight Indians have risen to the top in one of the fastest paced sectors in the US, whose contribution to increased American productivity fuelled the 90s US economic miracle.
This fact did not go unnoticed in the US and other developed countries, where the doors to hi-tech Indian immigration have since opened. The success and achievements of Indian Americans have also attracted the attention of major multinationals to India's potential in the IT sector.
Thus India is today one of the few, if not the only, developing country which has attracted investment not in one, but scores of R & D centres wholly funded and established by reputed MNCs like GE, CISCO, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, IBM, Hughes Software, Intel, Oracle, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments, to name a few.
For the first time, India has a constituency in the US with real influence and status. The Indian community in the United States constitutes an invaluable asset in strengthening India's relationship with the world's only superpower.
Their receptiveness to Indian concerns will depend greatly on the quality of their interaction with the country of their origin and the sensitivity to their concerns displayed in India. It is essential for India to create the necessary structures to facilitate this interaction.
