E-Paper
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas begins today
The event is aimed at encouraging the Indian diaspora to become part of the socio-economic development in India.
With an aim of encouraging Indian diaspora to be part of socio-economic development in India, the government will have three-day face-to-face with overseas countrymen from Sunday to discuss opportunities available.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 'Pravasi Bharatiya Divas' (PBD) that will seek to sustain and nurture the symbiotic relationship between India and its diaspora to address the development challenges that the country faces.
Besides the prime minister, several of his cabinet colleagues and state chief ministers will outline the initiatives taken to enthuse the Indians spread across the globe to invest in India.
The fifth PBD in a row will also have for the first time a session exclusively devoted to enabling the Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) to trace their roots.
The focus will be on establishing an institutional framework for sustainable engagement with overseas Indians to lead the knowledge, expertise and skills of the vast and diverse overseas Indian community into India's development efforts.
About 2000 PIOs and NRIs are expected to participate in the conference, sharing their ideas while learning about the opportunities. Notable among the delegates is Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar, who will be the Chief Guest.
The PBD will conclude with presentation of awards by President APJ Abdul Kalam.
