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This chapter examines the global governance of high-skilled labour migration. Firstly, it argues that global governance in this area is predominantly characterized by unilateralism and bilateralism, and that the institutional framework that exists at the multilateral level (in the form of the WTO's GATS Mode 4 and the Global Forum on Migration and Development) is a ‘facilitative’ form of multilateralism. Secondly, it explains the predominance of this level of governance by drawing upon global public goods theory to argue that, unlike many other areas of migration, the costs and benefits of high-skilled labour migration are largely confined to the sending state, the receiving state, and the migrant. Rather than being conceived as a global public good, the governance of high-skilled migration is likely to be a private good, implying that one would expect unilateralism and bilateralism rather than multilateralism. Thirdly, it argues that, on a normative level, an efficiency case cannot be used to support binding multilateralism but might support the development of facilitative multilateralism to improve bilateral partnerships.

The time is at hand for India to play a proactive role in shaping the international migration discourse, position itself as the preferred country of origin and demonstrate the benefits of its demography. It also urges that it is time for the world to anticipate the future: to recognize that the mobility of the producers of goods and providers of services is as important; work towards a robust global migration policy framework that provides for freer movement of people; and to move towards ‘one world, one people’. The grand dynamics of the historical patterns of the accumulation of capital have shaped the evolution of global inequality. The failure to address the primary driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth—today threatens to stir discontent and generate conflict of an order that will likely jeopardize the very basis of a modern, progressive and democratic future for all.

Global governance is essential in the current neo-liberal paradigm. This is especially true of migration. While economic migration ought to be determined by market forces it cannot be in a self-regulating market. The mandate on migration is currently fragmented across different institutions like the IOM, UNHCR, ILO, and so on. which deal with different types of migration and therefore different types of migrants. However, serious discussion on migration governance has not figured in the mainstream agenda in the UN system. There is a need for a body to govern migration. Currently, there is no global view on migration. The need for a multilateral framework for migration has been expressed but these have always been in the nature of ‘voluntary, non-binding bodies for the management of migration’. It is time for a global compact on international mobility of skills eventually leading up to a multilateral framework for the governance of economic migrants.