Indian-origin women are a big part of the new world’s international polity. From Usha Vance to Kamla Harris, here are five Indian women shaping global politics

In July 2024, anti-immigration presidential candidate Trump has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his Vice President. The most unprecedented thing about Vance’s nomination, despite his previous affiliation as a Democrat, is his Indian-origin wife Usha Chilukuri Vance.

Indian-origin women currently shaping global politics

According to a report by the New York Times, in 2013, the United States House of Representatives had a single Indian American member. These numbers have changed drastically, with at least 50 Indian-origin representatives in the American state legislature as of 2023. Among these our focus lies on Indian-origin women politicians, not only in the American polity but across all borders.

Usha Chilukuri Vance

The failed assassination attempt on candidate Donald J. Trump in Pennsylvania on July 13th seemed straight out of a history book. Despite the harrowing incident, he recently announced his Vice President, Ohio Senator JD Vance. But more interesting than the candidate is his Indian-origin wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.

Usha is the daughter of Indian Telegu-speaking immigrants, and holds two impressive degrees in History from Yale University and a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge. She used to be a litigator and has clerked for Supreme Court Justices, but her most important contribution can be attributed to her husband’s political success.

Kamla Harris

Kamla Harris announced that she was running for president in January 2019 but shut down her campaign in December and endorsed Biden’s campaign in March. In January 2021, she was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States. She is the first woman, first black American and the first South Asian person to be elected into this position. Raised by a Jamaican father and an Indian-born mother, Harris has previously served as district attorney for San Francisco as well as attorney general for the state of California.

Shivani Raja

29-year-old Shivani Raja is an Indian-origin Tory MP to win the Leicester East seat in the UK Parliament in 37 years. Raja recently swore her allegiance to the UK Parliament on the sacred Bhagavad Gita. Born to Indian parents from Gujarat and Rajkot, the MP has a degree in Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Science from De Montfort University. She secured her victory with a whopping 14,526 votes, beating Labour Party’s Rajesh Agrawal who was the former deputy mayor of London. Her victory is especially significant since the constituency hadn’t seen a Tory elected in nearly four decades.

Nikki Haley

Nimrata Kaur Randhawa or Nikki Haley was born to Indian immigrant parents from Punjab, India. She completed her degree in accounting from Clemson University and went on to become the first woman as well as the first person of an ethnic minority to hold the governorship of South Carolina, under the Republican banner.

She was also Trump’s American ambassador to the UN during his candidacy before she resigned in 2018, thereafter launching a challenge against her former mentor around a year ago. While she hoped to defeat Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential race, Haley faced an unfortunate defeat and subsequently ended her moderate presidential campaign with ‘no regrets,’ ceding the GOP nomination to Trump.

Priyanca Radhakrishnan

New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister, Priyanca Radhakrishnan was born in India with roots in North Paravoor, and went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education. In 2006, Radhakrishnan joined the Labour Party in New Zealand and became an MP under Ardern’s candidacy. She is currently serving as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, a position she held from 2020 to 2023. She currently serves as a List MP based in Maungakiekie, an electorate in New Zealand.

Anita Indira Anand

Born to Indian parents from Tamil Nadu and Punjab, Anita Indria Anand is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the President of the Canadian Treasury Board since July 2023 under Trudeau’s recommendation. With for degrees to her name ranging from a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in political studies from Queen’s University to a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto, Anand has also held academic positions at Yale, Queen’s University and Western University.

In 2021, Anand was sworn in as Minister of National Defence at Rideau Hall. She was the second woman in Canadian history to take on the role of national defence minister, and the only Indian-origin woman to do so.

As we spotlight remarkable Indian-origin women like Usha Chilukuri Vance and Kamala Harris, it has become rather evident that their contributions are completely reshaping the global political landscape to be more inclusive and diverse in terms of representation.