Such snobbishness was not unfamiliar. When the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs website flaunted pictures of V S Naipaul and Lakshmi Mittal, the clout of Silicon Valley millionaires prompted an Indian journalist's comment, "When half-a-dozen Indian-Americans sneeze, it is not unusual for official New Delhi to catch a cold." Yet, India's high commission in Singapore hadn't a clue when I wanted to know the number of Indian workers in the republic. An earlier high commissioner was caught out in a downright lie: he denied any knowledge of nearly 2,000 Indian illegal immigrants being arrested until the Singaporeans disclosed he had ignored 88 letters about them. When Little India rioted in 2013, India's high commissioner appeared on TV on a publicity mission for the Singapore government without a word of sympathy for the labourer, who had been killed.
So I wonder what the 40,000 - some ecstatic TV channels said 70,000; others restricted themselves to 50,000 - Indians rapturously crammed into the Dubai stadium expected from the tamasha of Narendra Modi's visit. Did they obey Modi's order to applaud Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi hoping he would persuade the UAE to be more humane? What did India gain? Investment figures of $3 trillion, $1 trillion and then a mere Rs 4.5 lakh crore were gaily tossed about. But did the UAE commit anything in writing? Abu Dhabi's emir refused Inder Kumar Gujral's plea for a billion-dollar deposit in an Indian bank, not for the money but the credit, when India was bankrupt.
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The 2006 protests by nearly 3,000 Indian workers in the UAE and their meek climb-down reminded everyone that any nation that exports unskilled labour is the world's poor relation. India gains $13 billion annually only because 2.8 million Gulf Indians have nowhere else to send their money. Unlike Indians in Britain or the US, they can't acquire local nationality. As permanent Indian citizens, they are New Delhi's permanent responsibility. No one spared them a thought until Gujral's 1991 Kuwait rescue mission.
The sheikhs know that whatever wage they give an Indian is more than what he earns at home. They are also uncomfortably aware that locals account for under 20 per cent of the population. Many big employers (such as the Dubai construction company whose workers rioted) have royal links. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime regards the UAE as a "high" category trafficking destination. Human Rights Watch condemns the country's "less than human" working conditions. Dozens of Indian workers commit suicide. Workers of all nationalities die from workplace injuries because of poor safety measures.
The only grievances the UAE recognises are wages not being paid or paid late, unhealthy working or living conditions, and absence of employer's health insurance. There are no minimum wages. Although the government has appointed public relations officers and a labour affairs committee, many workers are probably not aware of Dubai's police hotline for grievances. A Gulf News survey found 81 per cent of respondents blamed "employer exploitation" for unrest.
Contracts are sometimes in Arabic, which few foreigners understand. Sometimes, recruiting agents spring a different and more rigorous contract on arrival. Some agents represent bogus companies. The labourers' unbearably hot asbestos shacks have no air conditioning. A local joke had it that the temperature never rose above 50 degrees because UAE law obliged employers to give their men a day off when it did! Domestic servants do not come within official purview and can be underpaid, overworked and exploited.
No government whose citizens need dirty, poorly paid jobs in foreign countries where every tin-pot despot and dictator kicks them around can claim a place at the world's high table. If India were strong enough to persuade the UAE government, it wouldn't need to export manpower. That will continue for as long as slogans such as 'Make in India', 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and 'Start up India, Stand up India' remain slogans that don't translate into minimum prosperity for all. The only gain from Modi's jaunt seems to be a temple in the UAE.