The Prime Minister had cultivated strong ties with the Indian community abroad. Now, it is paying him rich dividends
While there can be a debate about the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five day visit to the US this week, there can be no doubt that he conquered the hearts of the three-million strong Indian- American community. The Madison Square Garden rock show on Sunday proves this. Although his meeting with the US President Obama was spent on substantive issues like the bilateral relations, economy and trade as well as military cooperation, Mr Modi built up the atmospherics and armed himself with the support of the Indian American community.
The growth of Indian Diaspora is a fascinating story. Over the decades, it has slowly emerged as a powerful lobby. From the 1960s, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh had been functioning in the US as the Sangh Parivar’s overseas outfit. The first generation of immigrants from India were highly educated and became engineers, doctors, teachers, academicians in America.
For decades now, the BJP and its sister organisations have worked actively among Indians in North America propagating Hindu culture, yoga and building temples. According to one estimate as of this May, there were 140 HSS shakhas in the US.
Initially, the Diaspora was not organised. Gradually it grew in size and in influence and also became more organised. The Indian Embassy in Washington, DC, was struggling to organise these pressure groups in the early 1990s but after India’s economic liberalisation, there emerged informal lobby groups. Within the US, these groups have campaigned to elect legislators sympathetic to Indian interests, and to have school curricula amended to protect their faith.
The high point was after the nuclear tests in 1998 which resulted in the automatic imposition of sanctions by President Bill Clinton’s administration. The Diaspora played an important role in getting the sanctions lifted. The effort had all-round support among Indian Americans, but it was led by the Overseas Friends of the BJP. Within two years the atmosphere changed, resulting in a highly successful Clinton visit to India in 2000 and Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s visit to Washington, DC. A grateful Vajpayee appointed Mr Bhishma Agnihotri, as India’s ambassador-at-large with a global mandate. later, the Diaspora also helped during the Indo-US nuclear deal by lobbying with the Bush administration.
Mr Modi must have learned a lesson or two from the Chinese Government which is using the Chinese Diapsora in the US to its advantage. Mr Modi was keen to showcase the clout of the Diapsora and had asked his long-time friend Dr Bharat Barai in Chicago to coordinate the MSG event. He had insisted that the reception have a national character. Organisers of the MSG event invited a broad social, ethnic and religious cross-section of 400 immigrant groups, ranging from Jains to Zoroastrians to Tamils to Bohras and Sikhs.
Mr Modi had been wooing the Diaspora even as Gujarat Chief Minister. The Vibrant Gujarat shows were good examples. Similarly, after the 2002 violence, the Overseas Friends of the BJP co-hosted a luncheon on Capitol Hill with two other major Indian-American organisations. later, in 2005, it invited Mr Modi as a guest speaker to the US.
Before the lok Sabha poll this year, the Overseas Friends of the BJP also began drumming up NRI support for Mr Modi with a dinner rally in little India in New York. It also organised more than a 100 chai pe charcha sessions. Above all, several diaspora groups participated in the campaign and also contributed funds. So Mr Modi’s continuous interaction with the Diaspora has paid rich dividends. Therefore, it was a clever move on his part to drum up support from the affluent Indian Diaspora in the US before meeting President Obama. Mr Modi will need the Diaspora to lobby for him in the Capitol Hills.
Already, the India caucus has grown in size to 42 members, most of whom were present at MSG. There are also two Indian-origin American Governors and Mr Obama has picked quite a few Indian-origin Americans for important positions. The new US Ambassador to India is also an Indian American.