The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Overseas Indian Migrant Workers’ Crisis: Impacts on Polity and Foreign Policy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the existential crises of Indian migrant workers, both domestic and overseas, to the centre stage of public discourse like never before. Millions of Indian migrant workers are stranded in foreign countries after losing their jobs; they face an uncertain future and even starvation. The migrant workers’ plight is fast turning into a major humanitarian crisis for which the current union government was not prepared. This paper seeks to analyse the various facets of the migrant workers’ crisis, the importance of remittances in the Indian economy, the rising cases of coronavirus infection among overseas Indians and the challenges of repatriation, mitigation efforts by the Indian government and implications of the migrant workers’ crisis for the Indian economy, society, politics and foreign policy. Finally, an attempt has been made to recommend policy measures to protect the interests of Indian migrant workers.