India takes understandable pride in the achievements of its diaspora. From Silicon Valley boardrooms to laboratories and universities, professionals of Indian origin have demonstrated their ability to compete at the highest levels. Their success brings remittances, investment, international connections and influence. But national pride should not obscure an uncomfortable question: why must so much Indian talent travel abroad to realise its potential? The tightening of America’s immigration policies has given this question renewed urgency.

The Trump administration’s restrictions on permanent-residency applications by major technology companies expose the vulnerability of professionals whose careers depend on the immigration policies of another country. Yet the lesson for India is not that its citizens should stop seeking opportunities overseas. It is that a country cannot build its future on the assumption that other countries will remain willing to absorb its most ambitious people. The Indian diaspora, estimated at around 37 million, is a formidable global resource. But its size and success do not automatically translate into national power.

A celebrated chief executive of Indian origin........

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