ABSTRACT
India has signed 18 Social Security Agreements from 2009 till 2016. Social Security Agreements (SSAs) are bilateral treaties, which allow export of social security benefits, totalisation of insurance periods and prevent dual contribution of social security in the country of origin and destination. Thus, the SSAs have a labour welfare function. Since SSAs are of recent origin in the context of India, a systematic study on Indian SSAs has not yet been undertaken. A key policy question in this context is promotion of circular migration of highly skilled labour willing to migrate to other countries. In this chapter, we summarise the existing framework of SSAs in India, highlight the key outcomes and discuss some areas of concern. Our key contribution is that we use a novel data set to identify key policy issues in this field that may require separate enquiries.
