Communities of Indian Immigrants in Latin American and Carribean Countries as an Ethnocultural Diaspora

The Indian government does not pay enough attention to interacting with the communities of Indian immigrants located in Latin American and Caribbean States (LAC). This is related not only to the long history of Indian immigrants living in the region and their presumed assimilation into host societies, but also to their small numbers. Traditionally, the Indian government has sought to avoid contact with immigrant communities and their descendants in the Caribbean due to social and political tensions between the Indian and Creole populations of Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname. Currently, the Indian government is working with the successful diaspora of developed countries rather than with the “plantation diaspora”, trying to avoid colonial period of Indian history. Moreover, Latin America and the Caribbean are not a priority direction of India’s foreign policy, despite the growth in trade and investments. The mentioned circumstances are reflected in the work of the Indian government with Indian communities in the region. However, immigrants who initially arrived in the Caribbean islands as labourers avoided Christianisation and complete assimilation into the dominant Creole culture. They have preserved their own identity, culture and religion, and continue to reproduce them in social, religious and cultural practices. The aim of the research is to prove that the communities of Indian immigrants in Latin American and Caribbean countries constitute an ethnocultural diaspora, as they are characterised by a) living in a different ethnocultural environment due to migration and dispersion; b) the mythologization of the image of their historical homeland and an emotional connection to it; c) the reproduction of their own ethnocultural identity. To achieve the stated goal, the authors employ structural-functional analysis, intersectional and constructivist approaches, as well as the concept of diaspora. At the same time, the authors try to avoid essentializing ethnocultural identity. The results of the research not only fill a gap in Russian studies of the Latin Caribbean region and Indian migration but also enable India to leverage the potential of its diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote its own interests and develop political, economic and cultural ties with the countries of the region.