They are making a mark everywhere – in government, businesses, professions
- Political clout of Indian Americans will hit the climax when the clock strikes 12 at high noon on January 20 when Indian origin Kamala Harris will be sworn in as Vice President of America.
By Ven Parameswaran - Future potential of Indians abroad is anybody’s guess.
- May be, someday, Indian origins could simultaneously head governments in UK, Canada, USA , Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, Mauritius, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana.
NOT A PIPE DREAM!
Around 5 million Indian Americans live in the USA. There are 36 million Overseas Indians living in various parts of the world. India has the largest diaspora population in the world. Collectively the Overseas Indians will acquire the maximum power because of their intellectual resources. If there is rapport and effective communication with India, the Indian Americans and the Overseas Indians can contribute to the modernization of India.
The election of Kamala Harris will have far reaching implications and impact on politics and society. Why? As a Vice President, Kamala Harris will be the second in command. Therefore, Kamala Harris has the potential to become President. President Biden-elect has already said that he would serve only one term. This will automatically create the opportunity for her to clinch the party’s nomination and contest the Presidency in 2024. It is possible that the Republicans could nominate Ambassador Nikki Haley, former two term Governor of South Carolina or another minority woman to compete. As there are more women than men voters in America, it will be almost impossible for a man to win. In the event Biden’s health demands that he resign, Kamala Harris will automatically become the President.
WHO IS KAMALA DEVI HARRIS?
Shyamala Gopalan, mother of Kamala Harris, was from Chennai. Her father was originally from Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu and was an official of the Government of India in New Delhi. She immigrated to the USA in 1958 at age 19 to do her Masters and Ph.D. in biology (breast cancer research) at the University of California at Berkeley. She married Harris from Jamaica, who was doing his Ph.D. in Economics at Berkeley. They were divorced when Kamala was 7.
Shyamala brought up Kamala and her sister Maya imbibing South Indian Brahmin culture. Kamala visited India several times with her mother and even picked up broken Tamil language. When Shyamala stepped foot in the USA in 1958 she could have never imagined that her daughter, Kamala would be the first woman elected to the office of the Vice President! Kamala’s father is a Professor of Economics at Stanford University. Kamala Harris has served as District Attorney, San Francisco and later as Attorney General, State of California, and was elected U.S. Senator in 2016.
PROGRESS AND ACHIVEMENTS OF INDIAN AMERICANS IN THE USA
According to the 2010 census, the Indian Americans are the highest educated. Their median income for a family of four was $105,000, the highest. Average median income for the Americans was $55,000. Most Indian immigrants entered the USA with a Bachelor’s degree.
INDIAN AMERICANS CLIMB POLITICAL LADDER AND BUILD POLITICAL CLOUT
Bobby Jindal (Republican) was elected first as a Congressman from Louisiana. Later, he was elected and re-elected Governor of Louisiana.
Nikki Haley was first elected as State Senator, South Carolina. Later, she was elected and re-elected Governor of South Carolina. She has also served as America’s Ambassador to the United N
ations, appointed by President Trump. Nikki Haley is young and it has been speculated that she will run for President in 2024. So far, 10 Indian Americans have been elected to the U.S. Congress.
Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American Congressman elected from Imperial Valley, California in 1956, and he served three terms. He was followed by 9 others.
Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian American to be elected to US House of Representatives in 1956
Currently four are serving in the Congress: Ami Bera and Rohit Khanna from California; Pramila Jayapal from Washington; Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois. All have the potential to run for U.S. Senate, Governor or President as time progresses and opportunities present themselves.
Approximately 20 Indian Americans have been elected to various State Legislatures of California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota during the past two decades. At least ten are serving currently. These ambitious Indian Americans are building grassroots throughout the USA. They have the potential to run for higher political offices as Nikki Haley and President Obama did.
Two Indians are serving as Attorney General in New Jersey and Wisconsin. There are several Indians serving as Federal District Judges, two as Appellate Court Judges, and U.S.Attorney. It is common for the Appellate Court Judges to be nominated for the Supreme Court. Several Indian American attorneys holding degrees from prestigious universities are working as Staff Assistant and Adviser to various U.S.Senators and Congressmen. Several Indian attorneys are functioning as Law Clerks in Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and the District Court. All these young Turks have the potential to advance to political offices.
The Indian Americans have set an example of par excellence in the following areas, to mention a few:
- Spelling B Contest: For the past 13 years, an Indian has won the championship consecutively. What a record?
- Harvard Business School : Nitin Nohria was elected a decade ago. He has been succeeded by Srikant Datar from next year. Why did Harvard choose Indians consecutively!!
- New York Philharmonic: Zubin Mehta was its Conductor
- Cleveland Philharmonic: Parameswaran is its Conductor.
- Trillion dollar corporations: Out of the top four, two are headed by Indians. Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google/Alphabet.
Warren Buffet is said to be grooming Ajit Jain.
Indra Nooyi, Board Member, Amazon. Mckinsey Consulting: Rajat Gupta was its global Chairman, first Indian to break the glass ceiling. Ronat Dutta, former CEO, United Airlines; Lonjewar, former CEO, USAir; Ajay Banga, Chairman, Mastercard. Vikram Pandit, former CEO, Citigroup.
- Sports: Malhotra was a member of National Hockey League. An Indian American is coaching a team of National Basketball League. Satya Nadella and Shantanu Narayan of Adobe Systems are organizing a National Cricket League.
- Laxmi Mittal, Steel King of the world lives in England owning the most expensive house in the U.K. Therefore, at high noon on January 20, 2021, Indian Americans, 36 million Overseas Indians and 1.2 billion Indians in India will be rejoicing and looking to their future with optimism, hope, and realism based on their past performance. The election of an Indian American Vice President will impact U.S.A. – India relations.
President Trump is the first American President to make India the CLOSEST ALLY on a par with the United Kingdom and allow India to transfer 100% of U.S.technology. During the past four years, the US and India are intertwined in strong military relationship. To symbolize, President Trump recently gave the highest military honor and award to Prime Minister Modi accompanied by a proclamation of military cooperation. Let us hope that Biden-Harris administration will continue to foster close ally relationship.
36 MILLION OVERSEAS INDIANS
Historically, the early immigration of India allowed uneducated and unskilled Indians to immigrate to developing countries of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Mauritius, Fiji, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Malaysia, Jamaica, and Singapore. This took place during the British colonial era. After Indian Independence in 1947, educated Indians immigrated to the developed and English-speaking countries of the U.K., Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Another group of immigrants, mostly from Kerala went to the Middle East and worked for the oil rich kingdoms in the Gulf. These Indians contributed to education and nation building of all Gulf States. Some Goans from India immigrated to Portugal.
INDIANS ARE HEAD OF STATES:
PORTUGAL: Antonia Costa has been Portugal’s Prime Minister. He was born in Lisbon but his father was born in Goa. Costa’s relatives still live in Goa.
IRELAND: Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland
GUYANA, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, SURINAME, FIJI, MARITIUS, and MALAYSIA had many Indians who served as Head of State at various times.
SINGAPORE: Halimah Yacob, President
UNITED KINGDOM
British Indians are the largest immigrant group numbering 5 million. 16 Members of Parliament of Indian origin have served Britain so far. Dadabhai Naoroji, was elected in 1890 as a Liberal M.P. Currently 13 M.P.’s are serving. In the current administration of Prime Minister Johnson, four Indian M.P.’s occupy most important portfolios of the government. They are:
Priti Patel, Home Secretary
Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer
All these young Turks are very close and loyal supporters of Prime Minister Johnson. It has been speculated in the media that any one of them could become future Prime Minister.
CANADA:
There are a couple of Indo- Canadians as Ministers in Trudeau government. Harjit Sajjan is the Defence Minister of Canada. Over 30 M.P.’s and M.L.A.’s are of Indian origin, mostly Sikhs. It has been speculated that an Indo Canadian will become the Prime Minister of Canada pretty soon.
AUSTRALIA :
Australia has ten elected officials of Indian origin serving as M.P. and MLA.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand has three Indians in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s cabinet
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
In this article, I have tried to highlight the extraordinary success and outstanding leadership of Overseas Indians in many countries, and especially in the U.S.A.
The essence of politics is, who influences whom, when, where, how and why? One can easily conclude that the Overseas Indians, highly educated and less educated are equally ambitious and adventurous group. The early immigrants settled and established themselves in developing countries and became even the Head of the State. Highly educated Indians after obtaining degrees from Oxford, Cambridge in England climbed to the top in the U.K. Similarly, the highly educated in America after obtaining degrees from the ivy league and other top universities rose to the top of the ladder of success.
Laxmi Mittal is the steel king of the world. Trillion-dollar corporations in the USA are headed by Indian CEO’s Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai. The Indians have conquered the position of Dean at Harvard Business School. Malhotra played ice hockey for the NHL. Zubin Mehta was a music conductor at NY Philharmonic. Indian children under age 13 have been the champion of Spelling B contest consecutively for 12 years.
Finally, the Indian Americans and Overseas Indians will be proud when Kamala Harris assumes the Office of Vice President on January 20, 2021. She will make all women, Asians and Indians proud.
Can you imagine the sheer political power of Overseas Indians in the next decade? Having already headed Portugal, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana they will be on the go to achieve the same in the developed countries of the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Based on the examples I have given in this article, one can easily speculate on the possibility of Indians heading the USA, Canada, and England in the near future. Australia and New Zealand could be a long shot.
If one can create a critical mass of the so called 36 million Overseas Indians, they could collectively influence future course of events of the world. Politics is of the possible and the probable. The race is to the sure and not to the fastest! The Government of India cannot afford to ignore the power and influence of the Overseas Indians, the largest diaspora in the world. Their remittances to India are the highest in the world. American Presidents – George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, and Donald J Trump have pointed out that Indian Americans are the most important factor in US-India relations.
(Ven Parameswaran, immigrated to the USA on Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit Scholarship in 1954. He graduated from Columbia Business School. He was President & CEO, First Asian Securities Corporation, NYC. He is a Senior Adviser, Imagindia Institute, a think tank in New Delhi. He lives in Scarsdale, NY. He can be reached at vpwaren@gmail.com)
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