One can refer to an American Indian as a Native American, but I cannot come up with an unambiguous term for an Indian from the Indian subcontinent. How can I refer to someone who is from the country of India, preferably without having to say "from the country of India"?
Ambiguous example:
My roommate is Indian.
You can say 'an Indian national' if you want to refer to a citizen of India. This also excludes those who were originally Indian but are now citizens of other countries, but this case you can use hyphenated labels (British Indian, Canadian Indian, Indian Australian, etc).
I noticed though that you mentioned the Indian subcontinent. 'Indian national' is clearly not appropriate for a Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, etc. The easiest label here is 'South Asian'.
Call him "Hindustani". India is also known as "Hindustan" and people residing there called Hindustani. This word is not very popular but downright correct for people who are from India.
Unless the indigenous people of the U.S. have formed some attachment to the misidentification foisted upon them by the earliest European visitors, the term American Indian ought to be replaced by something to indicate their prior status as sole owners and inhabitants of the turf that comprises the U.S. Autochthon (n), autochthonous (adj), aborigine (n) and aboriginal (adj) spring to my mind. Immigrants from India are making such a big splash in the U.S. -- in academia, in scientific and medical pursuits and in business -- that when I hear the demonym Indian, my mind registers South Asian subcontinent. With a billion people, that's the way it ought to be. The bare word Indian ought to evoke South Asia.
