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Software engineer Treassa Joseph felt a sense of connection at the Bengaluru event.Dan Peled<\/p>\nBrisbane software engineer Treassa Joseph is part of Australia\u2019s 1 million strong Indian-born community. But her background means she belongs to a much larger migrant group: India\u2019s global diaspora.<\/p>\n
There are over 35 million \u201coverseas Indians\u201d living across more than 200 countries according to the Indian government.<\/p>\n
Joseph was one of about 500 members of that diverse diaspora who gathered recently at a swank resort near Bengaluru in south India for an event called the Indiaspora Forum.<\/p>\n
Software engineer Treassa Joseph felt a sense of connection at the Bengaluru event.Dan Peled<\/p>\n
The speakers included tech billionaires, industrialists, academics, philanthropists, artists, and sports stars.<\/p>\n
The famed spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led a late afternoon meditation and veteran Bollywood singer Usha Uthup was on hand for evening entertainment.<\/p>\n
Indiaspora, the non-profit organisation staging the Forum, acts as a global network for diaspora leaders and participants turned up from 20 different nations.<\/p>\n
Joseph said there was a positive \u201csense of coming together\u201d at the event.<\/p>\n
Another Australian in the crowd was Shanthini Naidoo, a not-for-profit sector executive from Sydney. Her Indian-origin family moved to Australia from South Africa when she was a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a member of Australia\u2019s Indian diaspora, being in Bengaluru with such a diverse group from across the global diaspora felt incredibly energising and grounding at the same time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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Members of Melbourne\u2019s Indian community performing at an event to celebrate Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Australia in 2023.James Brickwood<\/p>\n
During the past two decades Australia\u2019s Indian origin community has emerged as one of the nation\u2019s most dynamic migrant groups.<\/a><\/p>\n Figures released by the Bureau of Statistics last week<\/a> revealed the number of Indian-born residents climbed above 971,000 last year lifting India above England as Australia\u2019s top overseas country of birth for the first time.<\/p>\n The gathering in Bengaluru highlights how the community is part of a far larger, and influential, global diaspora. (The word \u201cdiaspora\u201d describes a population which has spread from its original homeland to other nations.)<\/p>\n A report released in March by Indiaspora<\/a> found the number of overseas Indians has tripled since 1990. The group also has enormous financial clout; the diaspora earns a combined US$730 billion ($1,030 billion) a year, not including business income, stock options, and property holdings.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Indian-origin leaders permeate the highest levels of global corporations, especially in the technology sector.<\/p>\n \u201cIn large public markets, CEOs of Indian origin lead some of the world\u2019s most valuable Fortune 500 firms,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n Researchers and engineers from the diaspora are also disproportionately represented in the labs driving the generative AI revolution.<\/p>\n Gita Gopinath, a speaker at the Indiaspora event in March, formerly worked as first deputy director and chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. She says Indian origin leaders are becoming more prominent in international finance and economics including at global institutions like the IMF.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean it\u2019s not surprising \u2013 it\u2019s a country of 1.4 billion people so we should be seen in larger numbers around the world,\u201d she told this masthead.<\/p>\n Gopinath, now an economics professor at Harvard University in the US, feels her own diaspora experience has been a professional asset.<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, when I was at the IMF where I was the chief economist and then the first deputy managing director, I think people saw me as somebody who could bridge different worlds because I had seen \u2013 having come from India where I grew up, but then having lived now most of my life in America,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The Indian diaspora is also a force in international politics \u2013 former US vice president Kamala Harris and former British prime minister Rishi Sunak are high-profile examples of this trend.<\/p>\n Indiaspora\u2019s Australia country head, Jai Patel, who also leads KPMG\u2019s India Business Practice, says Indiaspora\u2019s aim is to harness the knowledge and experience of \u201cleading lights across India\u2019s global diaspora\u201d.<\/p>\n He says Australia has much to gain from its migrant links to the unique community of overseas Indians.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia\u2019s diaspora provides connections not just to India but to the global diaspora in many other parts of the world,\u201d says Patel. \u201cThere is a huge opportunity for us to plug into that.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Indian community already has deep personal and family ties to places like the US, Canada, UK, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as India. \u201cWe have uncles, aunties and cousins just about everywhere,\u201d says Patel.<\/p>\n University of Queensland Associate Professor Elin Charles-Edwards, who recently co-authored a study on the Indian diaspora for the federal government<\/a>, says the community is notably young and very highly educated.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like 70 per cent has an undergrad or further degree, so it\u2019s an incredibly educated group of people that we\u2019re gaining,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The number of Indian origin entrepreneurs and business managers in Australia is also on the rise<\/a>; Charles-Edwards says many are in a position to exploit the \u201cglobalised network\u201d of the international diaspora.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have people who are highly connected across multiple global sites, and they are choosing to locate in Australia,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Pawan Luthra, a prominent member of Australia\u2019s Indian community and chief executive of the popular India Link publication, says there\u2019s a \u201csense of pride\u201d in the diaspora at the achievements of Indian-born leaders in global business and politics.<\/p>\n But the size and influence of India\u2019s international diaspora is not well understood in the broader Australian community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line is there\u2019s now a very strong Indian global diaspora,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to see how we can manage this, and how we can apply this strength on a global basis.\u201d<\/p>\n The founder of Indiaspora, and a driving force behind the meeting in Bengaluru, is M.R. Rangaswami, a charismatic San Francisco tech entrepreneur and \u201cangel investor\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI love building communities that make an impact, so 14 years ago I asked myself \u2018what can I do for my own people?\u2019\u201d says Rangaswami, who was born in the Indian city of Kolkata but has lived most of his life in the US.<\/p>\n Indiaspora now operates in six key hubs \u2013 the US, UAE, Canada, UK, Singapore and Australia. Its mission is to \u201cinspire the Indian diaspora to be a force for good by providing a platform to collaborate and build community engagement, and catalyse social change\u201d.<\/p>\n Rangaswami, a regular visitor to Australia and keen supporter of the Hawthorn AFL team, says the scale and diversity of India\u2019s global diaspora offers unique opportunities for connection.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the largest diaspora in history \u2013 35 million people \u2013 there\u2019s no other diaspora close to the size,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it\u2019s also the spread of this diaspora \u2026 there are sizable populations spread across multiple countries and I think is a huge differentiator.\u201d<\/p>\n Shanthini Naidoo, chief executive of the St Vincent\u2019s Curran Foundation, which raises funds for St Vincent\u2019s hospitals in NSW, has witnessed the benefits of the diaspora network firsthand.<\/p>\n While attending an Indiaspora event in Dubai last year she met Neetisha Besra from the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute, which is part of America\u2019s Johns Hopkins University; the pair found that their respective organisations were both working on Indigenous health \u2013 one in Australia and one in India.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spoke about the challenges of improving Indigenous health and I learnt a lot about the similarities in the gaps in outcomes for Indigenous populations in India,\u201d says Naidoo.<\/p>\n As a result of the meeting, Naidoo and Besra are working to establish a knowledge exchange program to allow Indigenous community members and experts involved with both organisations to travel between India and Australia to learn from one another\u2019s work.<\/p>\n India\u2019s Indigenous community, commonly known as Adivasis, accounts for about 8 per cent of the population and experiences many disadvantages.<\/p>\n Naidoo says she \u201cwould never have met\u201d Besra if not for the Indian diaspora network, but their meeting has paved the way for an exciting collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can bring our Indigenous health staff and experts to India, and give those working in India to come to Australia, I think that would be an amazing connection,\u201d she says. \u201cWe hope it will lead on to much bigger things.\u201d<\/p>\n Each year India\u2019s diaspora sends and estimated US$138 billion ($193 billion) to India in remittances (payments by overseas workers to individuals or households in their country of origin, normally family members).<\/p>\n Gopinath points out the annual value of remittances \u201cexceeds the gross foreign direct investment that comes into India\u201d.<\/p>\n Diaspora philanthropy in India is also booming. While India has made rapid economic progress in recent decades, tens of millions of its citizens are still relatively poor.<\/p>\n Joseph thinks most members of the Indian diaspora, successful or otherwise, want to do something to help people in their country of origin.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many Indian Australians I speak to ask me, \u2018Do you know any projects that we can support back home that could educate people?\u2019 or something like that,\u201d the Indian-born mother of two, who has lived in Australia for 15 years, says.<\/p>\n Related Article Joseph works for a payments company called Merchant Warrior, co-founded by her husband, but has also founded an organisation that raises money for projects supporting poor communities in India. \u201cI believe strongly that we have a responsibility to create a positive social impact,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n India\u2019s international diaspora has a diverse and layered history.<\/p>\n During colonial rule in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of Indians was sent to other British colonies, mostly as indentured labourers working in agriculture and construction. The destinations included the Caribbean, East Africa, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Fiji.<\/p>\n Biman Prasad\u2019s forebears arrived in Fiji from north India in the early 1900s. But Prasad, a member of Fiji\u2019s parliament and a former deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, is a proud member of India\u2019s diaspora. He speaks fluent Hindi (one of India\u2019s official languages) and feels an \u201caffinity\u201d with India.<\/p>\n \u201cOur identity is deeply rooted in Fiji \u2013 it is our home \u2013 and we are part of Fiji\u2019s social, cultural and political fabric,\u201d says Prasad. \u201cBut we also have deep connections with India because of our linguistic heritage, our traditional cultural practices and religious links.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Economist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/941ddb3eb3ee01c63774d3dadd263229ef3ff4a2.jpeg\")
Economist Gita Gopinath speaks at the Indiaspora Forum.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1b2fa28a7b1812a9ed3452938b6d2a4ffda2d33e552fe0df3c33239d692a7eb9.jpeg\")
The Indian diaspora includes high-profile politicians like Rishi Sunak and Kamala Harris.Nine<\/p>\n![\"Jai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/497f44129c0ab439b9c91ee0a8f0a5a3c1e64da7.jpeg\")
Jai Patel (centre) with other participants at the Indiaspora Forum<\/p>\n![\"Indiaspora](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/53fa2f3bf993771d64ccabd2c55a57d931332623.jpeg\")
Indiaspora founder and chairman M.R. Rangaswami Matt Wade<\/p>\n![\"Diaspora](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9f3f1afed0a25a984f520f049c34a381245f8a37.jpeg\")
Diaspora links helped connect Shanthini Naidoo (right) and Neetisha Besra Matt Wade<\/p>\n![\"Participants](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/03ba526f6de1223dcd1bf83ca9861b93a680e8ef.jpeg\")
Participants at a festival paying homage to Ganesh at Liverpool. James Alcock<\/p>\n![\"Treassa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/13cd182538fa5c89f0206bb71bf5b207198e55e2.jpeg\")
Treassa Joseph at the Indiaspora Forum in Bengaluru<\/p>\n![\"Jagnoor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/53edcab2a0ed30dfa7e97927e939c32a59eab8a6151e9c6c5a75e6444f680c2d.gif\")
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