UN

Navanethem Pillay heads the UN Commission for Human Rights. She was the first non-white woman in the South African High Court. She served as a judge for the International Criminal Court and was President of the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda.

Indians continue to play a role in countries where they originally arrived as indentured labourers. Bharrat Jagdeo, born in Guyana to Indian parents, was Finance Minister and now President. Malaysia recently appointed V. Sivakumar as the Speaker of its Assembly. The President of Mauritius, Anerood Jugnauth, has played a key role in Mauritian politics as its Prime Minister from 1982 to 1995. Singapore President Sellapan Ramanathan and Minister of Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam are both of Indian origin. New Zealand’s Governor General Anand “Satch” Satyanand is the commander-in-chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force.