The controversy and confusion over H1B visas has exercised both India and the United States for much of last year. The focus so far has mainly been on the US trying to protect its own citizens' jobs and thereby foiling the hopes of many Indians. But a new study on immigration from the universities of Duke, Harvard and Berkeley, led by Indian-American technology entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa and released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has given the issue of immigrants a whole new spin. The study says that over 100,000 Indians and as many Chinese will leave the US in the next three to five years and go back home because of better job opportunities and quality of life, but primarily because of the US's arrogant immigration policies.

The study presents this movement as a major loss for the United States as these are talented, educated immigrants who will be leaving. According to Wadhwa, immigrants are vital to the US's economic future. He has said that although they make up only 12 per cent of the US population, they "have started 52 per cent of Silicon Valley's technology companies and contributed to more than 25 per cent of our global patents. They make up 24 per cent of the US's science and engineering workforce holding bachelor's degrees and 47 per cent of science and engineering workers who have PhDs".

The home countries of these immigrants must therefore not see their return as an additional burden to their existing job situation but rather as a welcome infusion of talent. These are people who led the US to several successes in Information technology and engineering, and they created significant wealth along the way. After all, as Wadhwa also points out, immigrants co-founded companies such as Google, Intel, eBay, and Yahoo!. Their expertise and their entrepreneurial skills will be priceless for two Asian giants looking for greater domination in the world.

The return of brainpower to Asia therefore ought to be a reason for celebration for both India which, like China, can be proud of their contribution to the world. The study presents the reverse migration as a loss for the US, but it could as well be seen as a gain for Asia. And in a globalised world, it is possible that this is not a loss at all. It is just a redistribution of assets.

DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication