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Singapore and the ‘Global Indian’ brand

How is the relatively new ‘Global Indian’ brand worldwide? And how Indian is this brand?

Such questions are not, obviously, on the agenda of the first-ever ‘Global Indian Diaspora’ conference, which is being held outside India and the U.S. However, subtle answers may emerge from the deliberations of the first-ever Asia-Pacific event on the ‘Global Indian’ calendar — the ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Singapore’ on October 10 and 11.

‘PBD Singapore’ has been so styled as to distinguish it from the annual feel-good gatherings of non-resident Indians and Indian-origin citizens. These festive meetings have been held in India itself; while a ‘mini-PBD’ was organised in New York a year ago, more as an event to coincide with the celebrations of ‘India at Sixty’ across the U.S.

Significantly, in this overall ambience, ‘PBD Singapore’ is entirely the outcome of an initiative from the City-State. While India’s Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is actively associated with this conference, the prime movers for its planning and execution are almost entirely the Singaporean authorities and organisations.

Being a thematic show on economic issues of interest to India and its friends in the Asia-Pacific region, notably the City-State as the lead-partner, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) is at the frontline of this conference. The Confederation of Indian Industry, India’s official “associate” in promoting the ‘Global Indian’ brand in the economic sphere, is on the scene for ‘PBD Singapore’ as well.

Before the ‘Global Indian’ brand was ‘invented’ as political shorthand for the “success stories” of a “rising” India and of the people with proximate or ancestral links to it, individuals of exceptional merit in this category did shine.

Mathematician Ramanujan, astrophysicist Chandrasekhar and another Nobel Laureate Hargobind Khorana, besides Subba Rao, scientific associate of a ‘Western’ Nobel Laureate in the field of biochemistry, were among the eminent persons who created the ‘Global Indian’ brand before it came into vogue a few years ago.

Those well-versed in the history of this ‘brand’ will be able to cite many other exceptional persons. But the essential point to note is that the ‘Global Indian’, before its newly-minted currency, was mostly about knowledge and science as also, arguably, philosophy and metaphysics.

Today, Indians are being cited more frequently in the economic domain as well for this ‘ethnic’ image of India. And, it is possible to argue that the City-State, despite its small size, is the first trading nation to fully recognise this.

Singapore’s leaders and captains of industry like Sat Pal Khattar, Chairman of ‘PBD Singapore’ Steering Committee, have often cited how former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s ‘Look East policy’ had its first political resonance in the City-State.

In a preview of this conference, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S. Iswaran, noted his country was the “first port of call” for India’s ‘Look East policy’ almost 15 years ago. And, in a more contemporary context, Singapore recently conferred its Honorary Citizen Award on Indian industrialist Ratan Tata.

The genesis of ‘PBD Singapore’, a conference focussed entirely on economic issues, not only commercial and corporate matters but also eco-friendly and prudent economics for sustainable development, is of more recent vintage, though.

Excluding countries with preponderant Indian-origin populations, such as Fiji or Mauritius, Singapore has given its ethnic Indian minority a number of high places in the political domain.

This is decisively far higher than the proportion that could be seen as ‘normal’ for the size of this community. At the highest echelon are President S.R. Nathan, Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. And, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo has emphasised that the high visibility of ethnic Indians in politics is traceable entirely to their “talent.” Unsurprisingly in this overall historical narrative, the ‘PBD Singapore’ folklore has already begun, with the point being emphasised that the conference owes its logistical origin to an offer by Mr. Jayakumar.

As the chief guest at last year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in India, he had expressed Singapore’s cheerful readiness to host an external ‘PBD.’

Also, India’s High Commissioner to Singapore, S. Jaishankar, is of the firm view that the argument for a ‘PBD’ in the City-State becomes “even stronger” because of its rising profile as “an economic and political gateway,” indeed as “a two-way gateway” for Indians in the eastern hemisphere and beyond.

Singapore’s elder-statesman and Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, had recently commented on how India’s current “rise,” unlike China’s phenomenal ascendance, was not opposed in the West.

While he is expected to share his worldview with the Indian and foreign participants at this conference, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister and former Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, will share their thoughts as well.

The overarching conference theme, according to SICCI Chairman Vijay Iyengar, is “a dynamic Indian Diaspora.”

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