This article covers the Indian community in Zimbabwe, education links including scholarships and students in India, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. It is based on the MEA bilateral brief of April 2026, and community and student figures are the estimates given there.

The Indian community

According to the MEA brief of April 2026, the beginning of the Indian presence in Zimbabwe goes back to about 1890, when Indian plantation workers in apartheid South Africa crossed over to Zimbabwe, then known as Southern Rhodesia. This PIO community, mostly of Gujarati origin, has mainly engaged in retail trade or export-import business. Some of its members hold US, Canadian, British or Australian passports.

As of the brief, there are around 8,500 Zimbabweans of Indian origin. The expatriate Indian community, mostly business professionals, is around 1,500.

The brief states that, by and large, the Indian community is well respected in Zimbabwe and has maintained cordial relations with the majority community.

Prominent members of the community

The brief names several members of the community who have held public office:

  • Senator K.G Patel, who died in 2011, was a member of the Politburo and Central Committee of ZANU-PF, the ruling party, and was accorded the status of a national hero in 2012
  • Mr. Bharat Patel is now a Constitutional Court judge
  • Justices A.M. Ebrahim and Mahomed Ali Adam have retired as Supreme Court and High Court judges respectively; Justice (Retd.) A.M. Ebrahim was awarded the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman in 2004
  • Mr. Raj Modi, elected as ZANU-PF Member of Parliament from Bulawayo South Constituency, has been Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce since September 2023

Zimbabwean students in India

It is estimated that around 5,000 Zimbabwean students are enrolled in various Indian colleges and universities. "Indian Higher Education and Career Fairs" and "Study in India" Fairs have been organised regularly.

Through memoranda of understanding with Indian institutions, the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) sends its students to Indian universities for Master of Technology degrees in various disciplines. The institutions named in the brief are Delhi Technological University; Amity University, Manessar; Sharda University; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University; Vellore Institute of Technology; Rabindranath Tagore University; IIT Madras; Indian Institute of Welding; National Institute of Foundry and Forging Technology; Marwadi University; IIT Kharagpur; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology; Institute of Technology and Management; and Sri Ramaswamy Memorial Institute of Science and Technology.

ICCR scholarships

The brief states that ITEC and ICCR scholarships are popular among Zimbabweans. ICCR has offered around 68 fully funded courses, for PhD and Post Graduate study in various fields, in the last six years. This year, according to the brief, 12 such fully sponsored courses are extended to Zimbabwe.

Mr. Raymond Machingura, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, visited India for the UNESCO-India Africa Hackathon in November 2022.

Cultural performances

The Embassy of India has been organising performances by cultural troupes sponsored by ICCR. "Lok Kala Sandhya" (Folk Dance Evening), featuring the Sanskruti Dance Academy of Gujarat, presented Gujarati folk dance performances in various cities of Zimbabwe from 26-30 September 2025.

As part of National Day celebrations and the commemoration of 150 Years of Vande Mataram, the Embassy organised "Shastriya Nritya Prastuti" (Classical Dance Performance), featuring a 10-member Kathakali troupe from The International Centre for Kathakali, across Zimbabwe from 23-28 January 2026.

Crafts fairs

A Zimbabwean group of a cultural troupe and artisans has taken part in the Surajkund International Crafts Mela for the past 6 years under MEA sponsorship. A 20-member group took part in the 38th edition in February 2025, and a 23-member group in the 39th edition, held from 31 January to 15 February 2026.

Mahatma Gandhi Road and media visits

Anson Road in Harare was renamed Mahatma Gandhi Road in July 2024. The brief states that this is the first road in the country to be named after any Indian leader.

Four journalists from Zimbabwe visited India on familiarisation visits organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in 2024 and 2025.