What do you think of India’s present diaspora policy, especially when it comes to the Caribbean?

India’s Diaspora policy has evolved over a period of time. While we rejoice in the various accomplishments of the members of the PIO community in different countries and deeply appreciate the community’s strong cultural and emotional attachment with India, we do respect their political commitment to their adopted countries and their deep sense of commitment to the socio-economic development of those countries. In other words, while we regard the members of the PIO community in Trinidad & Tobago and other countries as ‘Bharatvanshis’ - as our brothers and sisters - and we fully reciprocate their sense of emotional attachment with India but we do not bring in any political dimension in our relationship.

Grenada, Dominica and Montserrat are also concurrently accredited with the High Commission in Port of Spain. Please take us through some of your experiences in these countries. Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory, which was devastated by a volcano, a few decades back. There are about 7-8 Indian families engaged in business which have continued to live there despite obvious hardship. I visited Montserrat on a few occasions essentially to connect with these families.