India’s Policy towards Overseas Indians and Lessons for Chinese Policy for Overseas Chinese

　　ABSTRACT: As key source countries of outward migrants, China and India are similar: both have experienced overseas migration and the growth of diaspora populations. India has become famous for its scientists and high tech workers living overseas. Since the promulgation of the Immigration Act and the Emigration Rules in the 1980s, India has maintained an official policy towards overseas Indians. The Indian government places great importance on the rights of Indians living overseas, and has created preferential terms for Indians to emigrate through its legal codes, government institutions and policy measures. This paper summarizes the history of Indian emigration and of India’s policy towards overseas Indians and analyzes the development and characteristics of this policy, while also assessing its impacts on Indians. By comparing the distinct paths that China and India have taken in their emigration policies, it considers lessons for Chinese policy towards overseas Chinese.