The former US president Donald Trump, who is also likely to fight the presidential election as a Republican candidate this year, has said that all efforts should be made to retain the foreign talent, especially the Indians, in America. The top Indian talents go to America for higher studies and they want to work and stay there. But they are discouraged to work in America and the work permit is not granted easily. There is deliberate delay and procedural hassles in granting them green cards, denying them US citizenship. The American politicians believe that Indian students steal the opportunity of higher education and jobs of the Americans. Trump is the first American politician to openly acknowledge the contribution of the Indian diaspora to the American state and economy and the difference between the Indian immigrants and others.
Higher studies in America is very costly and requires a lot of patience, diligence and above all intelligence. The family system in America has broken down and the youth have to fend for themselves. They can not sustain the cost of living as well as the cost of higher education for a long time. No doubt,  scholarships are available for those who are very bright and education loans are also there, but very few dare to take it because of the whopping EMI for a very long period. Moreover, they are pleasure hunters by temperament and do not take the extraordinary pain and make sacrifices of youthful pleasures to pursue higher studies . The upper middle class in India is ready to make all sacrifices for educating their children in America, Canada and other western countries. The Indian youth is also ready to work hard to fulfill his or his parents dreams as they are fired by the imagination of a fairytale life there compared to the life of mediocrity, nepotism, and corruption in their own country.
The huge remittances to India by her diaspora living in America, Canada and elsewhere is a cinasure to the politicians of those countries but they do not realise that a huge amount of remittances are made by India to those countries while educating their children. It is no less than the remittances made by the Indian diaspora. It is no secret that the Indian students are the lifeline of these universities, particularly in Canada and Australia. Trump's acknowledgement has not come a day too early. The contribution of the Indian diaspora to the American economy is evident and many Indians are heading some of the top corporate houses there.
 The Indian economy has started looking up in recent years and the quality of governance is improving. India has done well on the front of ease of doing business. This is the reason a reverse migration of Indian talent and capital is on the cards. Trump's statement is also intended to check this possible reverse migration.
The Indian immigrants are law abiding and do not create problems for the local administration. They are not dole seekers and they do not live in ghettoised colonies having their own assertive religious and cultural identity. They are easily assimilated into the society they live in. Whatever cultural influence they create on the local society and culture is through silent and peaceful dissemination. This process is not new and it has come down to the present day since Swami Vivekanand took America and the whole West by storm by introducing them to the rich legacy and the highest form of spiritualism of the Sanatan Dharma.
So, Indians are a welcome lot wherever they go. America and other western countries are suffering from the shortage of workforce which India can supply them including the topmost academic and business minds. Any society which opens itself for talent and hard work without any discrimination is suitably rewarded. America is a rich beneficiary of this policy.

The writer is a noted academician and political commentator. Views expressed in the article are personal.