Recently, Indian parliamentarian and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor strongly criticized the Indian-American diaspora for its silence amid the deteriorating India-US relationship. He recalled a conversation with a visiting US Congresswoman, who told him that not a single Indian-American voter had contacted her office to urge support for a change in policies towards India.

“This is something that is surprising”, Tharoor remarked, emphasizing that if the diaspora truly cares about their motherland, they must “fight for it, speak for it, and press their political representatives to stand up for India”.

Tharoor’s words come against the backdrop of strained ties under the current Trump administration. Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods—some as high as 50 percent—revoked the sanctions waiver for India’s involvement in Iran’s Chabahar port, hiked H1-B visa fees to $100,000, and leaned strategically towards Islamabad and Beijing. These moves undermined India’s regional position and challenged the very logic of the US Indo-Pacific strategy and the quad partnership. In such a scenario, Tharoor argued, the diaspora should have played a far more active role in shaping US foreign policy toward India. Instead, they remained silent.

This silence is particularly striking given the extraordinary economic success of the Indian-American community. They hold top positions in leading global companies like Microsoft, Google, Adobe, and IBM, and have founded or co-founded numerous high-value startups in the US. Notable figures include Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Sundar Pichai (CEO of Alphabet/Google), Shantanu Narayen (CEO of Adobe), Arvind Krishna (CEO of IBM), and Leena Nair (CEO of Chanel). Their........

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