Indian Origin World Leaders

Dec 19 2022

Indian Origin World Leaders Having Leadership Quality and Holding Top Positions

When Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on October 24, it was a proud moment for all Indians because of his Indian origin. He is also the youngest to do so in 200 years. He was the first person of Indian origin to do so and also the first non-white to be elected as Prime Minister of the UK. However, Rishi is not the only person with ancestral roots in India to hold top posts in governments across the globe. Several other world leaders of Indian descent hold powerful positions.What makes these Indian-origin leaders stand out and be placed in high positions in different countries around the world? One thing that appears to be shared by all of them is the leadership quality.

Here are some of the leading names of world political leaders of Indian origin.

Kamala Devi Harris : Vice President of the United States of America

  • She is the first woman and first African-American Vice President of the United States of America.

  • She is also the highest-ranking female official in the USA.

  • She was born in Oakland, California.

  • Her maternal ancestry is from Tamil Nadu in India.

  • Her father is from Jamaica.

  • She is the first African American and Asian American vice president in US history.

  • popularly known as Michelle Obama.

  • She was a senator for California from 2017 to 2021 and is an active member of the Democratic Party.

Rishi Sunak : Prime Minister of Great Britain

  • At the age of 42, he became the first person of Indian origin to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

  • He was born in 1980 in Southampton to parents of Indian ancestry who migrated from East Africa to Great Britain after being expelled from Uganda by the then-President Idi Amin.

  • He serves as the Chief Secretary of Treasury from 2019 to 2020. Then, from 2020 to 2022, he serves as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Mohammed Irfaan : Executive President of Guyana

  • first ever Indo-Guyanese Muslim President of Guyana.

  • In August 2020, he took the oath of office as President.

  • Prior to becoming the President of Guyana, he served as the Minister of Housing and the Minister of Tourism and Commerce.

Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal

  • Before entering politics, this Indian-origin leader served as a lawyer.

  • He was sworn in as Prime Minister on November 26th, 2015, and has been so since.

  • He has a unique identity, being half Indian and half Portuguese.

Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius

  • He is a world leader of Indian origin and a Mauritius politician who has been Prime Minister since January 2017.

  • His ancestors belonged to Uttar Pradesh in India.

  • Since 2003, he has been the leader of the militant socialist movement.

Prithvirajsing Roopun, President of Mauritius

  • Another Mauritian of Indian origin, Prithvirajsing, has been the seventh President of Mauritius since 2019.

  • He was born into a Hindu family, which was composed of followers of the Arya Samaj.

  • Before being elected president, he served as a minister in different ministries.

Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname

  • A well-known police officer of the Surinamese Police Force, he assumed office as the ninth President of Suriname on July 1, 2020.

  • He also served as the Minister of Justice and Police from 2005 to 2010.

  • He was born in a Hindi-Surinamese family in the year 1959.

  • His grandparents were from Bihar.

Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Seychelles

  • He has been serving as the President of the Republic of Seychelles since 2020.

  • He is the youngest of the three children and was born into a modest family.

  • His Indian ancestors can be traced back to his grandfather, who was born in Bihar.

Halimah Yacob, President of Singapore

  • She became the President of Singapore in 2017.

  • She is also the first female president in the history of Singapore.

  • She was born in 1954 to an Indian Muslim father and Malay mother.

These world political leaders have come a long way and become successful in their careers because of the unparalleled leadership quality that they possess.

Indian-origin leaders in business worldwide with great leadership quality

In addition to the Indian-origin world political leaders, there are some world business leaders of Indian origin too, known for their amazing leadership quality. These Indian-origin business leaders are ruling the world with their great business acumen and leadership quality.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet

  • When it comes to leadership qualities of an Indian-origin CEO who has made a name for himself, the name Sundar Pichai is enough.

  • He has earned a degree in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur.

  • He also holds a M.S. from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • In 2004, he joined Google as the head of product management and development.

  • In 2015, he was named the chief executive officer of Google.

  • In 2019, he replaced Larry Page as the CEO of Alphabet Inc., Google"s parent company.

Shantanu Narayen is the CEO and Chairman of Adobe Inc.

  • Shantanu, an Indian-American business executive, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Adobe Inc., one of the most diversified, largest, and top software companies across the globe.

  • He joined Adobe in 1998 and was promoted to CEO in 2007.

  • In 2018, he was ranked 12 on the Forbes "Businessperson of the Year" list.

  • He was also conferred the 2020 Leadership Award by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

  • The Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

  • He has a BE degree from the Manipal Institute of Technology.

  • He succeeded Steve Ballmer in 2014 to become the CEO of Microsoft.

  • In 2021, he became the Chairman of Microsoft.

  • Just recently this year (2022), he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.

Leena Nair, CEO of Chanel

  • After serving as the Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever, she became the youngest CEO of Chanel in 2021.

  • She is a British-Indian business executive with a management degree from XLRI, the Xavier School of Management.

With so many world leaders of Indian origin leading from the front, it is clear that India is no longer on the outside looking in.These Indian-origin political and world leaders are making India proud every day. These leaders of Indian origin serve as role models for Generation Alpha.Leadership quality is not something new for India. It has been innate to India and can be proved by the fact that India is the land of many great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, APJ Abdul Kalam, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, and many others. 


With these great leaders, freedom would have been just a dream. India"s leadership ability extends beyond business and politics.There are several Indian-origin leaders known for their leadership qualities in different fields, including sports, entertainment, research and development, technology, finance, and more. The Indian-origin leaders serve as a great inspiration for kids, and many of them are role models too. It is essential for schools and educational institutions in the country and around the world to focus on building leadership quality. The world needs more leaders who can lead from the front and inspire others to bring about change in the world.