INDIAN COMMUNITY IN KENYA AND NATIVE STANCE TOWARDS THEM.

India and Kenya share a closer bilateral relation due to presence of large number of Indian Diaspora in Kenya. Nearly about 75,000 people of Indian origin including Indian passport holders settle in Kenya. The Indian population in Kenya consists of several communities like Punjabi, Guajarati and also people from Southern India and they have been instrumental in advancing industrial growth and investment in Eastern African region. The existence of Indian diaspora in Kenya can be traced back to British colonial empire when the British government in order to enlarge their colonial empire brought large number of Indians to build roads, bridges and other infrastructural projects in Kenya. After a lot of hardships and struggles, Indian community in Kenya formed itself as a middle class business group in the country. Most of the Indians became traders, artisans, lower level administrators and professionals like engineers, doctors and so forth. Over the time, Indian community in Kenya increased their contacts and linkages and made their mark in the field of business and achieved greater economic success in comparison to native Kenyans. This produced tensions and resentment among Kenyan Africans and they soon began to create troubles for Indian diaspora. Amidst this situation, Indian community in Kenya travelled to other industrialized nations like U.S.A, U.K. for stable life and better opportunities. The Indian Diaspora in Kenya still remains as an integral part of industrial development in the country, but they are not able to gain a meaningful political presence in the region.