On a recent lecture tour of America I found that Indians are regarded with new seriousness. Whether in a Bay Area restaurant or a Wall Street office or a Chicago hospital we are now perceived differently. Indian professionals abroad have succeeded in making India relevant: something our leadership of the non-aligned movement could never achieve.

Washington pays us attention not because of our bomb but because American politicians look to 200,000 Indian millionaires in America for funding their elections. Yes, 2 lakhs! These Merrill Lynch figures also explain why 120 Senators and Congressmen are members of the India Caucus on Capital Hill and why Indians are on the donor list of major American charities. The old begging bowl is giving way to the picture of a confident young Indian emerging from his Park Avenue apartment in an Armani suit.

That India has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world for 25 years is also beginning to be known. Investors have noticed that the rupee has strengthened as our foreign reserves have crossed $79 billion. A strong currency isn't good for exports, but investors like a strong stable currency, and this may signal higher foreign investment inflows in the near term. Europe is suffering from sclerosis, Japan has been stuck for a decade with deflation, the US is in recession, Latin America has its own problems, and SARS has clouded China's near term future. So, in comparison India has begun to look attractive to investors.

A less welcome sign of India's new relevance is America's concern that India will steal its white-collar jobs. China has already robbed it of blue-collar jobs; now India is set to become America's back office, as US companies try to cut costs in this recession. Every day some newspaper reports that a new company plans to outsource some office process to India.

This may be good news for educated Indians -- accountants, architects, scientists, doctors, graphic designers, phone operators -- but it has got US employees genuinely worried. They are anxious because they know that economics usually prevails over protectionist sentiment. But, as Congressman Jay Inslee recently advised, Nasscom should mobilise Indians in America as well as the Indian Caucus to fight this rising protectionism.

Investors now complain less about our infrastructure. They are aware of our telecom revolution though news about the world's largest highway project has not reached them. But they do criticise our corruption and red tape. "One foot on the accelerator and 100 on the brake" is how one American described our bureaucracy. A potential investor in our power sector said he fled from India when he realised that he would have to get 97 permissions, which raised the spectre of 97 bribes. If only Prime Minister Vajpayee showed the same determination in implementing economic and administrative reforms as he does in Indo-Pak diplomacy, this black mark too would fade.

Clearly, nothing has changed India's image more than the success of Indians abroad. It is reinforced by the grim prospect of middle class office workers in India taking away their "knowledge jobs". On the flight back I was next to a young Indian returning from Antwerp's diamond area. He told me that Hoveniersstraat, a Jewish street once celebrated for famous kosher restaurants, now offers the best dal roti in Europe. And why not: 80 per cent of the world's polished diamonds now pass through Indian rather than Jewish hands.