How 30+ million people of Indian origin abroad have become a genuine instrument of Indian foreign policy.
A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen residing abroad. A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) was a separate category (since merged into OCI) for foreign nationals of Indian ancestry. The Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme grants a lifelong visa and most rights of Indian citizenship (except voting and government jobs) to eligible people of Indian origin, formally merging the PIO scheme into OCI in 2015.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (celebrated 9 January, marking Mahatma Gandhi's 1915 return to India from South Africa) is India's flagship diaspora engagement event. The Ministry of External Affairs' diaspora outreach — including welfare funds for distressed overseas workers and large diaspora rallies during high-profile state visits — has become a distinctive feature of India's contemporary diplomacy.
India projects soft power through yoga (the UN's International Day of Yoga, 21 June, established after India's 2014 proposal), Bollywood and popular culture, classical arts, the ICCR's cultural centres abroad, and the promotion of Ayurveda and traditional medicine. Remittances from the diaspora are also a major economic contribution — India is consistently the world's largest recipient of remittances.
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