Global India Dialogue Series

The lecture was an outsiders perspective on Indian Diaspora and Diaspora policies with reference to Africa tracing the links in history, origin of people’s movement in trade and labor, current policies and challenges.

The lecture drew attention on various aspects of India and Indian Diaspora in East Africa, which is largely a business community and is an old Diaspora in the region. The community is integrated though still considered a ‘heritage resource’ for the host and home countries. Their experiences are diverse in the countries they are in and it is important to understand this in order to assess potential towards bettering bilateral relations between India and these countries namely, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

The political, social, economic and cultural India-Nigeria engagement started well before both countries’ political independence from Britain. The ties run deep with India becoming one of Nigeria’s largest trading partners since bilateral relations were established in 1958. The talk highlighted long-standing Diaspora engagement between the two countries and the new dimension and potential that this relationship has in the context of emerging realities.