'Wapas aane ko mat bolna': Chinese return in droves from US, why Indians don’t, asks Shankar Sharma

Shankar Sharma, veteran investor and market commentator, sparked debate on X by questioning why Indian scientists and engineers rarely return home after moving to the U.S., unlike their Chinese or Russian counterparts.

In a sharply worded post, Sharma contrasted India’s diaspora with that of Russia and China: “Indians... do the obligatory dandiya & bhangra when our leaders visit US, but wapas aane ko mat bolna,” he wrote. His comments raise a complex issue at the heart of India's innovation and talent ecosystem—reverse migration.

While countries like China have aggressively wooed back their top scientists with billion-dollar research budgets, cutting-edge labs, and senior leadership roles, India’s efforts have lagged. Programs like the Ramanujan Fellowship, Ramalingaswami Fellowship, and Vaibhav initiative have brought back a few hundred scientists over several years. For context, just 649 scientists returned to India between 2012–2017, a drop in the ocean compared to those who stay abroad.

China, on the other hand, has seen nearly 20,000 scientists of Chinese descent return from the U.S. since 2018, spurred by both push factors—such as visa crackdowns under the U.S.'s “China Initiative”—and pull factors, including prestige, pay, and nationalistic purpose.

Russia, despite popular perception, also sees low return rates. Most Russian scientists adapt well to U.S. academia and corporate life, with return programs offering limited incentives and facing internal hurdles like bureaucratic stagnation and low living standards.

In India’s case, the gap is wide. Local salaries and research funding pale in comparison to what’s available abroad. Even when housing and grants are offered, the scale and consistency don’t match China’s state-led mission to reabsorb talent.