Engaging with Indian diaspora Modi govt's highest priority: Foreign minister

The government has accorded the highest priority to its engagement with the diaspora community and it is clearly evident in the plethora of initiatives taken since 2014, the country's external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday (13).

He said there are over 32 million overseas Indians, of which nearly 18 million have accepted the nationality of their host countries and 14 million have retained Indian passports.

Jaishankar was speaking at the launch of the website of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention which will be held in Indore from January 8-10 next year.

“The government, under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, has accorded the highest priority to the diaspora engagement and it is clearly evident in the plethora of diaspora initiatives taken since 2014,” Jaishankar said.

“The engagement can be witnessed at the highest level and the prime minister’s interaction with the diaspora on his tours abroad,” he said.

The PBD convention is the flagship programme of the government aimed at engaging with the Indian diaspora.

Jaishankar said a digital exhibition at the convention will showcase the contribution of the diaspora to India’s freedom struggle.

“Our diaspora engagement policy is founded on the cornerstone of 4Cs — Care, Connect, Celebrate and Contribute — wherein we have greatly invested in all aspects by increasing the welfare schemes and activities and deepening the engagement of diaspora in various events and platforms,” he said.

“We celebrate their achievements with more vigour abroad and the Missions are always prepared to assist Indians abroad in time, in any crisis. The Vande Bharat Mission during Covid stands out as an extraordinary example on the scale of this commitment,” he added.

Jaishankar said the inaugural session of the PBD convention will be chaired by Prime Minister Modi and President Droupadi Murmu will confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards at the valedictory session.

“The focus is people-centric, as articulated in the theme ‘Harnessing the potential of women diaspora entrepreneurs towards an inclusive approach to nation-building’ and on ‘Enabling global mobility of Indian workforce – Role of Indian Diaspora’,” he said.

The external affairs minister said the inaugural session of the convention will focus on the safe migration of workers through “Surakshit Jayein, Prashikshit Jayein”.

“It has been the commitment of the prime minister to highlight the unsung heroes of our freedom struggle. I am happy to inform that during this convention, we will showcase a digital exhibition, for the first time, on the contribution of the diaspora to India’s freedom struggle,” he said.