New Delhi: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Diaspora day), celebrated from January 7 - 9 to mark the contribution of the Indian diaspora towards development of the country, is being held in Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat, this year to mark the centenary of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa. Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with senior cabinet ministers, including finance minister Arun Jaitley and commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be addressing the session along with chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra.
Guyana President Donald Ramotar will be the chief guest at the 13th edition of the event and will be felicitated on the occasion. He has been the President of the South American country since 2011, where people of Indian origin form 43 per cent of the population.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, is the world’s largest annual gathering of people of Indian origin aimed at enhancing networking and reinforcing commercial links. There are 25 million people of Indian origin residing outside India, and this year around 3,000 people are expected to attend the event.
“This edition of the event will be far different from previous ones since the mood about India as an investment destinations has changed globally after BJP was elected in May last year. We expect the non-resident Indians to invest even more in the development of the country,” India’s foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told Gulf News over phone.
“This time, a special session is being organised for the young diaspora and a special sessions to deal with the concerns of diaspora living in the Gulf countries and Francophone countries. Also a session for Indians living in countries where the descendants of Indian indentured labour live and another to address concerns of the associations of Indian diaspora,” said Swaraj.
However, the main objective of the government is to utilise the upcoming event to woo Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) entrepreneurs to invest in six flagship programmes of the BJP led government, including Digital India, Make in India, Clean Ganga campaign, Swachh Bharat and skills development initiative.
“One of the key pillars of the Modi government’s foreign policy initiatives is to further strength the bond between the NRI and PIO’s and here we would like them to take stake in the flagship programs of the government to develop India,” said an official of the Ministry of Overseas affairs.
Sources indicate that Modi and Jaitley are expected to meet various NRI investors in smaller gatherings not only to make them invest but also understand the problems they face while investing. Modi is also expected to announce various visa relaxations and offer specials packages for NRIs during the event.
