India will be the world skill capital by 2022: Sushma

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday urged the Indian diaspora to be a part of India’s transformation by contributing to higher education and research. She said India would become the world’s skill capital by 2022.

“India has now transformed and become the land of many opportunities, innovation, and start-ups,’’ Swaraj said after inaugurating the Yuva Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (YPBD) here.

YPBD is a part of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, which the government organises to engage with the Indian diaspora estimated to be the world’s largest and about 51 million strong spread across the globe.

Swaraj called the contribution of the Indian diaspora exemplary. “Nearly 16% of start-ups in the Silicon Valley [in the US] have an Indian co-founder.” She highlighted India will have the world’s largest working population by 2022 and added the demographic advantage offered India an unprecedented edge.

She said the government’s aim was to also export skill. “Exporting skilled manpower would not only ensure India’s better image globally but would also lead to better salaries and remittances and raise India’s GDP further.”

Swaraj said the government considers the diaspora as members of India’s extended family and overseas Indians have been assigned a special place in the action agenda prepared for India’s development till 2020.

She said Indian diaspora had dramatically changed the world’s perception about Indians. “Today, young CEOs of Indian origin head many multinational corporations. Be it Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, or Geeta Gopinath of IMF, it is indisputable that Indians are leading the world today.”

Rathore called the diaspora India’s true brand ambassadors and said their achievements have added to the country’s honour.