Asia's Talent Grab: Can India Seize The Moment As US Falters?

The global race for talent has never been fiercer. Asia is positioning itself as the new epicentre for ambitious students and professionals turned away by an increasingly unwelcoming United States. As the US haemorrhages the talent that has fuelled its innovation for decades, opportunities are opening up for ambitious Asian nations poised to capitalise on the US misstep with open arms and streamlined policies. India, with its booming tech sector and repatriation schemes, is a contender in this race, but it faces challenges.

A federal judge in the US has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to revoke Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students. The broader picture, however, is clear. With a nearly 50% drop in US student visas for Indians in January 2025, compared to January 2024, many Indian students are looking elsewhere.

Asia is ready to seize the opportunity. According to a recent report by Nikkei, “The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has offered unconditional admission to displaced Harvard students, along with streamlined admissions processes and academic support… The University of Tokyo is considering temporarily accepting displaced students from Harvard if they are affected by the US government’s move to bar them from studying at Harvard.”

Vietnam, a rising tech hub, is easing citizenship laws and offering long-term visas to attract global professionals. In 2022, Techcombank, a leading Vietnamese private bank, held an Overseas Talent Roadshow in the US, UK, Singapore, Australia and France to scout top talent for its finance and technology expansion.

India, with 1.33 million students abroad, the largest cohort studying overseas, and 337,630 in the US alone in 2024, stands at a crossroads. Its strengths are undeniable. As Vivek Wadhwa, Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, noted in a recent column in a leading newspaper, “Indian students are now rethinking whether the US is still the best place to study or build a future. With its increasingly uncertain immigration policies and declining openness, it is no longer the obvious first choice. India, in contrast, is becoming more capable of absorbing and advancing global talent. Its research institutions are demonstrating world-class capabilities. The country has produced affordable vaccines, pioneered frugal engineering, and launched space missions on a fraction of NASA’s budget. It has a growing startup ecosystem...”

There are promising signs for India’s VAIBHAV fellowship, launched in 2023. As of February 2024, 75 diaspora scientists, mostly from the US and Canada, were approved to participate, with 22 joining in 2024 for short-term collaborations. However, 75 is a small number compared to the scale of India’s brain drain. Furthermore, collaborations are limited to short visits, unlike China’s Thousand Talents Plan, now largely replaced by Qiming, which prioritises permanent relocation.

India also offers the G20 Talent Visa, a new initiative designed to attract highly skilled individuals, particularly scientists, researchers, and academics, from G20 countries. Bengaluru, especially, is proving to be a magnet for returning professionals.

Yet, India’s ambitions are hampered by structural weaknesses. Its 103rd ranking on INSEAD’s 2023 Global Talent Competitiveness Index is far behind Singapore (2nd), China (40th), and South Korea (27th). This index looks at pollution, uneven quality of everyday life, and underfunded education, among others, and global talent is deterred from moving to India on all these counts. Urban safety concerns and infrastructure gaps further diminish India’s appeal. India still struggles to retain its talent and attract non-Indian talent.

As Wadhwa pointed out in his commentary, “India is not yet ready to replace the US as a global research superpower—but it is well-positioned to inherit the talent and energy America is turning away. Seizing this opportunity will require more than goodwill. India must invest in its research infrastructure, improve its regulatory environment, and incentivise public-private collaboration. It must create pathways for Indian-origin scientists abroad to return—and for foreign researchers to come. Most importantly, it must treat research not as a luxury but as a national priority.”

South Korea’s Global Korea Scholarship and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, also known as the MEXT programme, offer attractive living conditions and clearer visa pathways than India’s sometimes cumbersome bureaucratic processes. Even Vietnam, with its proactive recruitment, is gaining ground. And, irrespective of opinions on China’s political system, it provides valuable lessons for attracting and retaining talent.

China’s top two universities, Tsinghua and Peking, have edged closer to the global top ten; they are now ranked 12th and 13th, respectively. Their ascent highlights China’s growing influence in global research and higher education. Both institutions have held top positions in Asian university rankings for five years. “Two-thirds of Asia’s top universities are now based in mainland China and Hong Kong,” The Diplomat magazine noted in December 2024.

India’s edge lies in its economic momentum and repatriation focus, but this is not enough. To compete, India must scale up initiatives like VAIBHAV, streamline visa processes, and invest heavily in urban infrastructure, education and research. It must also offer a better quality of everyday life. In a ruthlessly competitive world, talent is the new oil. Countries seeking to win in the global contest for talent must shed the fear of the foreigner.

As politics disrupts the pipeline of international students to American universities, Asia stands to gain, but India must move faster to claim its share.

Patralekha Chatterjee is a writer and columnist who spends her time in South and Southeast Asia, and looks at modern-day connects between the two adjacent regions. X: @Patralekha2011