PULL QUOTE: “There are benefits both India and the Caribbean stand to derive from this bonding; both can be a source for reciprocal investments and reciprocal trading arrangements. Caribbean economies with an investment-friendly regime and their closeness to the North American Latin American market make them an attractive target for investment. In addition, evidence suggests that the rate of return to a unit of investment by the Diaspora may be greater than that of the traditional foreign direct investment”
Final Part
First published: themisirpost.wordpress.com
Today, given the many notable accomplishments of overseas Indians, there is not only limited political networking among themselves (intra-Indian networking), but also sparse networking with Other residents (inter Indian-other networking) of those countries. And so both limited types of networking guarantee a reduced interaction between Indian culture and ‘other cultures’ in major institution building of those developing multiethnic societies; hence, the inevitability for advancing an interactive Indian Diaspora-Caribbean agenda.A Diaspora agenda for the Caribbean would largely include Indian Caribbeans and Other Caribbeans. Most of the Indian Caribbeans are mainly from Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago (T&T), and Suriname, and fast approaching about 2 million Indians if the other Caribbean countries are included.
The Indian Diaspora-Caribbean Agenda
Therefore, the first item on the Indian Diaspora-Caribbean agenda could be:
• Create the environment where Indian culture equally coexists with Other cultures at all levels in institution building. Indians must negotiate this equal coexistence with Other Caribbeans to shape Caribbean society.
A plural society must have core values accepted by all groups; these core values could come from the majority, minority groups, or from an interaction among all groups; and the basis of holding the plural society together is shared core values among all groups, like parliamentary democracy (Smolicz, 1981, p.88). But outside the layer of core values is another layer that is the cultural identity of each ethnic group. And in the Indian Diaspora context, how does the Indian maintain cultural continuity?
The answer has partly to do with the resilience of Indians. Their resistance to White planters was a rallying point for cultural continuity. Labor unrest that facilitated Indian solidarity also simultaneously was a remarkable method Indians used for ensuring cultural persistence. Cultural connection, especially in the extended family system, language, religion, Indian cinema, and religious missionaries’ visits also could explain the persistence and continuity of Indian culture. Consider that by the beginning of the twentieth century, about three-quarters of Indians in Guyana were from Uttar Pradesh, another connection making for sustainable cultural identity. Historically, cultural persistence and continuity enhanced Indian resilience and mobilization, a precondition for effective active struggle and for withstanding unnecessary cultural recastings arising from societal change.
Therefore, a second Diaspora agenda item for the Caribbean could be:
• Enable Indian Caribbeans to sustain cultural grounding for capacity building to effectively interface with Other Caribbeans. Indeed, Other Caribbeans should engage in a similar activity.

Indians have demonstrated a perpetual bonding with India in probably most if not all of its cultural spheres. And there is an Indian view of the Diaspora as there is a diasporic view of the Indians; two views that are reconcilable.
In a Foreword (Naipaul, 2002) to “India: A Wounded Civilization”, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature V.S. Naipaul feels a sentiment for India even as he presented mixed feelings for India. Naipaul believes that India is not nor cannot be his home; “and yet I cannot reject or be indifferent to it…I am at once too close and too far …In India I know I am a stranger; but increasingly I understand that my Indian memories, the memories of that India which lived on into my childhood in Trinidad are like trapdoors into a bottomless past …An inquiry about India…has to be an inquiry about Indian attitudes; it has to be an inquiry about the civilization itself…”
Naipaul in expressing mixed feelings about India and his childhood acknowledges the enormity of Indian culture that lingers to eternity for any person who has had intense contact with India. And it is precisely because Indian culture has this quality of permanence that Indian Caribbeans celebrate Indian religious festivals and Indian Arrival Day, to demonstrate the persisting and sustainable Indian connection.
Therefore, a third Diaspora agenda item for the Caribbean could be:
• Enlighten the Indian citizenry in India about the accomplishments of the Indian Caribbeans, and ensure India’s educational connection with the Caribbean persists.
Through scholarships and other forms of educational assistance, India continues to reach out to the Indian Diaspora, including Indian Caribbeans; in fact, India has reached out to Other Caribbeans, too. In this way, India contributes to fostering good ethnic and race relations in the Caribbean through facilitating the educational advancement of Indians as well as other groups. Table 1 shows the multiethnic Staff Development Scholarships the Indian Government has offered Guyana. Between 2000 and 2005, 45% of Indians and 41% of Africans received staff development scholarships to study in India, totally funded by the Indian Government. It is clear that India’s formidable educational contribution fosters better ethnic and race relations in Guyana.
Table 1: Indian Staff Development Scholarships to Guyana

Years 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total %
Ethnicity
Africans 6 6 1 3 18 11 45 41
Indians 5 5 6 7 22 5 50 45
Others (Mixed) 3 1 1 6 3 1 15 14

Total No. of Scholarship 14
12 8 16 43 17 110 100

Source: Public Service Ministry Training Division

Therefore, a fourth Diaspora agenda item for the Caribbean could be:
• Invite competitive technology and skills from Indian Caribbeans, Other Caribbeans both at home and abroad, Non-resident Indians (NRIs), etc.
There are benefits both India and the Caribbean stand to derive from this bonding; both can be a source for reciprocal investments and reciprocal trading arrangements. Caribbean economies with an investment-friendly regime and their closeness to the North American Latin American market make them an attractive target for investment. In addition, evidence suggests that the rate of return to a unit of investment by the Diaspora may be greater than that of the traditional
foreign direct investment (FDI) (Wei and Balasubramanyam, 2006).
Therefore, a fifth Diaspora agenda item for the Caribbean could be:
• Develop scope for increasing bilateral trade and investment; reciprocal granting of Most Favored Nation (MFN) to each other; reciprocal brand promotions of ‘Made in India’ and ‘Made in the Caribbean’ through trade fairs and exhibitions.
Samaroo (1994) notes that the substantial overseas Indian community can be both a source for investment and a ready-made market for India’s products. Overseas Indians through intensive lobbying sealed the India-U.S. Civil Nuclear Deal (Singh, 2014, p.138). India is now in the Caribbean, with extended linkages to other parts of the Indian Diaspora.
However, the bonding between India and the Caribbean is a case of sustaining personal and cultural identity, a significant contributory factor to enhancing the quality of life for Indian Caribbeans and Other Caribbeans. Together, this bonding may create a new vision for the Indian-Caribbean connection in the 21st Century.
References
NAIPAUL, V. S. 2002. India: a wounded civilisation, Pan Macmillan.
SAMAROO, B. India and Indian Diaspora: The Continuing Links. A Paper Presented in the International Conference on Indian Diaspora, held at Hyderabad, 1994.
SINGH, A. 2014. Indian Diaspora as a factor in India-Malaysia relations. Diaspora Studies, 7, 130-140.
SMOLICZ, J. 1981. Core values and cultural identity. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 4, 75-90.
WEI, Y. & BALASUBRAMANYAM, V. N. 2006. Diaspora and development. The World Economy, 29, 1599-1609.
Written BY Dr. PREM MISIR