By Urbi Das & Thirtharaj Bardan
Published on December 6, 2024
The Indian diaspora in the United States has played a significant role in strengthening diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington. Members of diaspora communities share an emotional attachment to their home country and maintain active connection with their ancestral land. They enable communication beyond the traditional instruments of diplomacy and help to enhance bilateral ties.
Indian-Americans have played a pivotal role in strengthening India-US relations. Positioned only after the Hispanics in terms of their numbers, and accounting for about 20 percent of the Asian American population, the Indian-Americans have been one of the strongest minorities in the United States. With a population of about 5.2 million (2024), their extensive presence across the United States as an economically vibrant and politically involved community have made them one of the most influential diaspora groups in the United States of America. The Indian-American community is highly skilled and they are strongly represented in the white-collar sectors such as research, innovation, and academia as well as in the business sector. Presently, sixteen of the Fortune 500 companies are led by Indian-origin CEOs, employing about 2.7 million Americans and generating nearly a trillion dollars in revenue. Being co-founders of 72 out of 648 US unicorns that are valued at US$195 billion, their contribution to the start-up ecosystem in the United States have generated significant employment and bolstered the US economy. From owning neighborhood grocery stores to ownership of about sixty percent of all US hotels, the community has high success rates and exemplifies robust entrepreneurial skills. The presence of a culturally rich, highly educated, and financially successful diaspora community serves as a connecting link between the two largest democracies of the world.
The Indian Caucus has successfully lobbied for positive reorientation of American foreign policy towards India and helped to carry ethos of Indian culture across the Atlantic. After the Pokhran nuclear tests, when sanctions were imposed on New Delhi, the Indian diaspora lobbied for lifting the sanctions while explaining the detrimental effects that such sanctions could have on the American economy. They were also able to establish that the idea of peace, while being self-reliant, is at the core to India’s nuclear capability. Again, during the Kargil War, the Indian Caucus pushed the House of Representatives to pass a resolution condemning Pakistan and restoring of the Line of Control.
Along with remarkable professional success, the Indian-Americans are a politically involved community, and considered as a significant demographic group by both the Democrats and Republicans. Though small in terms of voting population, their significance in US election is beyond doubt. From Dilip Singh Saund (D-1957) to Bobby Jindal (R- 2005), Amit Bera (D- 2013), Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorty (D- 2017), Vice President Kamala Harris (D- 2017), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Representative-elect), Shri Thaneda (D-Representative-elect), Ro Khanna (D-Representative-elect), the number of Americans belonging to the Indian ancestry has increased in the Congress over the years. While they reflect a natural inclination towards the Democratic Party due to their accommodative approach and a relatively lenient immigration policy, the Presidential election of 2024 reflected a stark contrast to this established norm where sections of the diaspora community showed growing inclination towards the Republican candidate, President-elect Donald Trump.
Surveys show a decline in the relative percentage of support of the Diaspora community in favour of the Democratic party, which came down to 47 per cent from 56 per cent in the last four years. Whereas there remained a gender divide during the recent presidential election, with men being more inclined towards the Republicans and women preferring the Democrat Party’s candidate Kamala Harris due to the party’s pro-abortion stance and prioritising health care and reproductive rights, the overall inclination of Indian-Americans towards the Republican has increased over the years. The Republican Party also witnessed the rise of representation from Indian ancestry in the primaries such as Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.
Roughly, 2.6 million voters formed of immigrants and their second and third generation descendants differ in their prioritization of issues, which reflects an increasing pro-Republican stance among the diaspora community. The new generation voters seemed to rank economic growth, tax reforms, combating inflation, employment opportunities and lowering of interest rates as key issues in the 2024 run for the Presidential candidate. Trump during his Presidential campaign successfully reached-out to Indian-American men while Harris identifying herself more as Black compared to recalling her Indian roots. This coupled with the promise of economic prosperity and the narrative of making America great again seemed to sway the second generation Indian-Americans to prefer Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris.
Trump’s criticism of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine crisis, mishandling of situations in West Asia along with voicing sharp criticism for lack of protection for minorities in Bangladesh, condemning the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh seemed to appeal to the Indian diaspora. Added to this, the Howdy-Modi and Namaste Trump factor seemed to be the trump cards of generating positive attitude among Indian-Americans in favour of the Republican Party.
The Modi-Trump affinity is likely to be a decisive factor in the future of India-US relations. Also, the Indian diaspora is set to receive an enthusiastic optimism with Usha Vance, wife of Vice-President elect J D Vance, making history as the nation’s first second lady. With the diaspora community acting as one of the strongest threads, the relationship could help build a stable, strong and prosperous Indo-Pacific. From tackling terrorism in Pakistan and ensuring stability and protection of minorities in Bangladesh to condemning Chinese aggressive tendencies in the Indo-Pacific, India and the United States share similar views and uphold respect for rule-based order in the region. While there is concern for the overall shrinking of H1B visas, the entry of highly skilled Indian professionals do not seem be under any serious threat. Trump 2.0 is most likely to remain broadly positive for India-US relations from enhancing defence ties, economic partnership to strengthening bilateral and minilateral cooperation along with building an order based on shared prosperity.
* Urbi Das is an Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Tirtharaj Bardhan is an Undergraduate Student at the Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Disclaimer: The Views in the Article are of the Author.
KIIPS is a premiere think-tank that intends to provide a platform to academics, researchers, scholars and experts from across the country and abroad.