Category Archives: India
Making the case for global workforce migration: A strategic blueprint to harness India’s demographic dividend
Authors : SANJEEV KRISHAN | SAMIR SARAN
Global labour migration has been instrumental in shaping how societies are formed and how economies function. Since the establishment of ancient trade routes to present day, labour migration has been an important factor in defining global geopolitical dynamics and shaping the socioeconomic fabric. Though labour migration is typically influenced by employment opportunities and earning potential, factors such as economic stability, geopolitical dynamics, national security concerns and the pursuit of higher living standards are also gaining prominence in influencing the workforce’s decision.
Global workforce, therefore, stands at a crossroad where global labour migration landscape is dotted with multiple challenges and requires a unified policy framework, coordinated international support and efforts for aiding labour migration flow across the world and to leverage human capital for global growth and prosperity. The key challenges that the world is witnessing today in the context of labour migration are multidimensional, spanning across policy and regulatory hurdles, including lack of adequate social security mechanisms, inadequate skill recognition and skill mismatch, short-term employment contracts and low social, cultural and political receptiveness.
Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the global labour migration landscape with a focus on the underlying economic frameworks and cross-country evidence of evolving labour migration patterns, its socio-economic implications and how India’s demographic dividend can be leveraged in this context.
The first chapter looks at the dual role of labour – a crucial production factor and a demand driver – and its complementary relationship with technology in augmenting economic output and sustainable growth. The chapter enumerates the evolution of global labour migration patterns shaped by social, economic, political and technological factors as well as the structural shifts in labour migration patterns in the recent decade driven by technological advancements. It also examines the challenges and opportunities related to global labour migration, setting the context for a detailed discussion in the later chapters.
The second chapter looks at the evolution of labour migration theories, driven by factors like population changes, differential wages and technological changes. It explains the tenets of a fundamental model of global labour migration and talks about both the economic and social benefits of global labour migration, including skills transfer, entrepreneurship, innovation, remittances and higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
The third chapter highlights the evolving labour migration trends, with an analysis of immigration policies in key destination countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States (US). It also looks at frameworks like ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) and European initiatives like the Europass which aids labour migration across the world. The fourth chapter discusses the key challenges to labour migration, ranging from cultural and social barriers to institutional impediments like the absence of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic agreements. The chapter also highlights concepts like the ‘lottery of birth’,1 encapsulating the inherent advantages or disadvantages migrants face due to their birthplace. The fifth chapter focusses on India, underpinning its crucial position in the global labour migration landscape and identifying trends in Indian labour migration, while also detailing the country’s public and private sector initiatives aimed at facilitating international labour mobility.
The sixth chapter looks at the convergence of labour economics and international relations, highlighting the need for institutional arrangements to attain an equilibrium in global labour supply and demand. Furthermore, it enumerates how Indian labour markets can assume an important role in the global workforce landscape by aligning with global policies and institutional frameworks to fully leverage the economic potential of labour migration for both the domestic and global economy.
The seventh chapter maps global labour opportunities, emphasising India’s role in addressing workforce shortages in mature economies like Germany, Japan, and Canada. The section highlights how barriers such as skill mismatches, regulatory complexities, and qualification recognition persist and can be mitigated by strengthening skilling initiatives, aligning certifications with global standards, and leveraging AI-driven training platforms. Lastly, the concluding chapter on policy recommendations highlights how a sustainable workforce mobility framework necessitates robust alignment between domestic skill development initiatives and evolving international labour demands. A dynamic, future-ready labour mobility strategy can position India as a leading global talent supplier while maximising reciprocal economic benefits.
Read the report here.
5 ways in which India-Russia relationship will shape the world in 2025
The ability to partner with nations that are deeply divided by geopolitics has been a feature of Indian diplomacy since Independence. The India-Russia relationship serves not just the two countries in question, but the world
Foreign policy trends in 2025 will be shaped by shifts in great power relationships. A new administration in the US could upend its relations with old allies in Europe and intensify rivalry with China. In an uncertain world, India plays a leading role in maintaining balance. The global community is watching New Delhi’s efforts to restore stability to its troubled relationship with China, and wonders whether the Indo-US dynamic will recapture the energy that characterised it in Donald Trump’s first term. In spite of all this, the most consequential bilateral relationship in 2025 will be between India and Russia.
The strength of ties between New Delhi and Moscow matters to both countries. It touches core mutual areas: Trade in energy, technological co-development, and strategic interests. Russia remains India’s most accommodating partner when it comes to high-tech supplies. While the West — France and the US in particular — are relaxing rules for trade with India in dual-use tech, there is still a long way to go before New Delhi’s undersea and long-range requirements are satisfied by the West. This is where Moscow steps in.
The global community is watching New Delhi’s efforts to restore stability to its troubled relationship with China, and wonders whether the Indo-US dynamic will recapture the energy that characterised it in Donald Trump’s first term.
What some overheated commentary on the India-Russia relationship misses is that it is of deep importance for the West as well. The BrahMos missile, co-developed by India and Russia, has been given to the Philippines to fend off the Chinese. In other words, it is only through India that Russian technology can be used to preserve the rules-based order. And it is only because it is India that no Chinese veto is permitted by Moscow on such sales.
This is but one example of the unique nature of the relationship between India and Russia. Their closeness will have deeper implications in 2025, a year in which it will be recognised as a global public good. Here are five ways in which this relationship is vital for the preservation of global order.
First, it serves as a bridge between the rest of the world and a Russian polity that has been alienated by, and has set out to further alienate, the Western ecosystem. India’s commitment to multilateralism and the global order anchors Russia, its close partner, to a system that it otherwise seeks to disrupt. India can do this because it is not seen as agitating for any one political or geopolitical position. It is a boundary nation that transcends systems, and provides an ability to connect — even integrate — separate universes.
Second, the India-Russia relationship prevents the Russian bear from totally entering the dragon’s den. A Russia locked into servitude to Beijing’s interests would be profoundly inimical for the world order, the West in particular. India’s outstretched hand grants Russia the ability to manoeuvre and allows it to avoid capitulating completely to China’s demands. It has become increasingly clear — at BRICS and elsewhere — that avoiding becoming a junior partner to its giant neighbour is a priority for Moscow. Russia expects a partnership of equals. India provides one, China does not. Europe must realise that when peace eventually returns to the continent, it will be with Russia as an equal of the European Union, and not subordinate to it.
India’s outstretched hand grants Russia the ability to manoeuvre and allows it to avoid capitulating completely to China’s demands.
Third, trade between India and Russia in fossil fuels is designed to be compliant with sanctions meant to limit Russian profits. This too provides broader benefits to the world. It brings valuable price stability and predictability to energy markets, which is vital for the West and for Europe in particular. It is no exaggeration to say that the energy trade component of the Indo-Russian relationship prevents Europe from slipping further into political disorder.
Fourth, the relationship allows for new possibilities in the crucial Arctic region. Without India’s increasing strategic presence in the Arctic, in partnership not just with Russia but also with European and Nordic friends, a new Russia-China axis would have shaped the region’s future. This would have spelt disaster for the ecology and security of global supply chains. India’s growing role instead opens better options. A Chennai-Vladivostok corridor, co-owned by Russia and India, might be a first step towards a more effective and inclusive connectivity and governance architecture for the region.
Finally, India’s presence in groupings with growing power and influence like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ensures that these are not weaponised against the West. As External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has put it, India is non-Western, it is not anti-Western. This moderate and reasonable attitude shapes the actions and positions of such groupings. The entry of New Delhi’s candidates — and Western friends — such as the UAE, Egypt and Vietnam into BRICS as either members or partners has further moderated that grouping. The presence of these countries, and India’s leadership, ensures BRICS serves more as a complement to legacy, Western-led multilateral groupings than as a challenge.
India’s presence in groupings with growing power and influence like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ensures that these are not weaponised against the West.
The ability to partner with nations that are deeply divided by geopolitics has been a feature of Indian diplomacy since Independence. It is only now, however, that this ability will be revealed as essential to prevent the fracturing of a stressed global order. The India-Russia relationship serves not just the two countries in question, but the world. The policy community in both India and the West is keenly aware of this relationship’s pivotal importance. Scepticism in the West’s Russophobic media and think tank ecosystem does not change that reality.
Source : The Indian Express, December 20, 2024
Samir Saran 