Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural convention of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin in New Delhi on Jan. 6, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee called for "a partnership among all children of Mother India so that our country can emerge as a major global player." Noting the seminal contributions of the Indian diaspora to the information-technology, biotechnology, agriculture, space and energy sectors in adopted countries, he asked for a similar contribution by them to their mother country.
Vajpayee's call is a welcome acknowledgment of the role that overseas Indians can play in India's development and advance. It is also belated, halfhearted and incomplete in its appreciation of the role of nontraditional channels of diplomacy amid the changing contours of world politics.
The business of the world has changed almost beyond recognition over the course of the last 100 years. There are many more actors today, and their patterns of interaction are far more complex. The locus of power and influence is shifting. The international policymaking stage is increasingly congested as private and public nonstate actors jostle alongside national governments in setting and implementing the agenda of the new century. The multitude of new actors adds depth and texture to the increasingly rich tapestry of international civil society.