The concept of a brain drain gained popularity in countries like India, where a large number of highly skilled professionals left the home country and settled abroad, mostly in western nations, where they got higher paying jobs. Many argue that the Indian economy and the Indian society lost huge amounts of profits and talents because this 'drain' was not stopped. Those who immigrated were even seen as 'ungrateful citizens' who made use of government subsidized education institutions but then chose to go abroad, rather than staying back and helping the country progress.
I am of the strong opinion that a brain drain is not such a bad thing, we need to instead look at the circumstances under which it happened. If people were fleeing a country because they feared for their security and safety, a brain drain in this sense would be a thing to be concerned about, highly skilled and educated people leaving Afghanistan due to the Taliban taking over is one such example where this applies.
In the Indian context however, our so-called 'brain drain' did not happen because there was civil unrest in India, it merely happened because people got jobs, which paid better abroad. Moreover, those who went abroad sent and continue to send huge amounts of foreign remittances, which form a vital role in boosting our foreign exchange reserves, this in turn plays an important role in boosting our economic prosperity.
The Indian 'brain drain' also created a huge Indian diaspora across the world, who have achieved so many laurels, that they have become a part of India's soft power. People like Sundar Pichai, Staya Nadella and Parag Agarwal have given a big boost to India's global image.
India's foreign policy has also greatly benefitted from this 'brain drain', our relationships with countries like the US and Canada has greatly strengthened largely due to the huge number of Indians and Indian origin people who stay in these countries. Countries in the West have realized that they simply cannot do without highly skilled professionals from India, it is therefore in their own interests to pursue good relations with India.
On the economic front, the foreign remittances that Indians abroad send to their families in India has improved the standard of living of millions of households in our country. The Indian rupee has also seen its value rise in the global markets due to the huge inflow of foriegn remittances into the country, which has increased the global demand for the rupee.
Indians going abroad for greener pastures does not mean that India as a country is losing out, in fact, we are actually gaining a lot when Indians go abroad and do well in various countries. We need to start being more proud of our diaspora and their contributions towards India's progress as a country. It would be wrong to look at people leaving India as a 'brain drain', we need to start looking at it from a more economic and political point of view. India's diaspora is a powerful and important asset that our country has, we must not forget this.