They've never had a better time to shine their light on their revered Motherland. We refer to the 1,500 Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and other Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who hauled their wisdom and wallets to New Delhi this January for the Second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Within the forum halls and without, they dispensed several gigabytes of bullish sentiment and superpower advice-even as their hosts fell over each other to make themselves hospitably worthy of all this attention from their significantly better spoken cousins (at least in drawl terms).

What makes them so special? Why-India's new-found status as a dollar-rich country, thanks to their persistent support; who else cares so much? Who else has been such a bankable source of dollars? Not to forget their role in lobbying their adopted country's governments in India's favour. Isn't India on the world's investment map at last? Hasn't America's all-so-important 'tilt' shown a dramatic change lately?

Since such counter-queries have arisen, perhaps it's time to put them to test. First of all, NRI-sent dollars account for only a fraction of the reserves; and even so, there is good reason to believe this is mostly money chasing rational returns rather than a measure of their 'support'. The typical NRI bond, for example, offers an interest rate higher than anything considered 'market set' by global finance. If Motherland-induced sighs had so much to do with putting money in these (or in NRI deposits for that matter), our rich cousins ought to be paying a 'price' for it-by accepting a sacrificial interest rate. Just who's doing whom a favour here is not altogether clear. That lower US interest rates have accelerated the funds inflow is further evidence that the calculations involved are quite monetary.

Nor have NRIs been a crucial source of on-the-ground investment in India, unlike the case of overseas Chinese in China. Of course, there's an explanation. The Chinese Diaspora is indeed a 'diaspora'-comprising business-folk who were forced out of the country by Mao's spooky experiment with people power. India's mixed economy, in sharp contrast, always had place for private business (an overly cosy place too, some would argue), and Indians going West were largely educated professionals, not panicky industrialists nor economic refugees (in the genuinely 'huddled' and 'tempest- tossed' sense).

Yes, many NRI-PIOs have nationalistic yearnings of sorts, and many donors are sentimental about conserving what they see from across the seas as a fading heritage. Also, some of them are indeed entrepreneurial, in search of foreign neighbourhood corners to dominate with late-night groceries or plate-ripe coconuts. "Oye toh States gayo re" is an oft-heard Gujarati line in Mumbai (interpreted as "he's off to the States" or alternatively, "he flunked Stats").

So yes, sure, the overseas crowd also has its share of proud sentimentalists and vociferous investors. But the notion that pampering them will boost the Indian economy in any significant way, one should realise, lacks statistical validity.

As for that other cherished assumption-of NRIs shaping global geo-politics-it's better to let perceptions sort themselves out on their own. India's presence on the investment map is a result of the country's immense business opportunity, plain and simple, and big business decisions are not vulnerable to a word put in here, a nudge there.

All in all, we should not delude ourselves. It is nice that the interaction with overseas Indians has risen so sharply; they're always welcome. But there's nothing in their power to justify the fawning that accompanies much of it. That is an embarrassment, not an investment.

There are several distinguished Indians resident overseas whose advice is of immeasurable value to the country's future. Economic thinkers such as Amartya Sen come to mind. You won't catch them going 'Gimme-a-five', but are quite quite global. You won't hear them waxing sentimental, but they are quite quite Indian too. They deserve our attention.

Otherwise, there's little economic justification for giving India's overseas swarms a collective voice much louder than what's warranted by their relevance.