New Delhi (India), January 4: Indian diaspora is instrumental in propelling the country’s growth by means of promoting trade and investment, through technology transfer, and cultural diplomacy, said the Secretary (Consular and Diaspora), Ministry of External Affairs, Ausaf Sayeed on Wednesday. 
He was addressing at Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on the occasion of a curtain raiser event titled as “Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2023: Celebrating Diaspora in the Era of Amrit Kaal” ahead of Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas (PBD) scheduled for next week.
After a hiatus caused by the Covid Pandemic, Government of India will be celebrating the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas (PBD) physically at Indore- the cleanest city in India. The theme this year has been aptly called the “Diaspora: Reliable Partner for India’s Progress in the Amrit Kaal ‘ as India embarks on an unprecedented developmental journey during the next 25 years called “ the Amrit Kaal”.
In a curtain raiser event ahead of Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas Secretary, Ausaf Sayeed said,“The Indian diaspora is the world’s largest and oldest diaspora, which has emerged as a very dynamic and powerful entity recognised globally.”
In a reply to the question on Migration issues and government initiatives, he said, “One of the things which we are trying to do is that we have an e-migrate system, so we are integrating this e-migrate system with 13 POA offices with in India. Another important thing we are trying to do is link up this e-migrate platform with many other countries.”
Secretary Ausaf Sayeed also stated the example of GCC countries. He said, “Major manpower importing countries, the GCC countries and others, we have started discussion with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. So I think with these measures, more transparency will be brought into the recruitment.”
“In most places where the diaspora settled in terms of the immigrant groups, the Indian immigrant groups are relatively well settled and more financially and educationally sound,” he further added.
Calling the Indian diaspora a constituent of India’s soft power and an important element of India’s foreign policy, the secretary also underlined the Indian diaspora growing global influence in his address at PBD curtain raiser event and said it is gaining political influence worldwide with many heads of the state owing their origin to India. This event was graced by many other former diplomats and experts like Amb. Virendra Gupta (President Antar Rashtriye Sahyog Parishad), Amb. Anil Trigunayat, Professor Binod Khadri and Sushil Pandit (President , PIO Chambers of Commerce and Industry).
This year 17th edition of Pravasi Bhartiye Divas (PBD) Convention is scheduled to be held from 8th to 10th January with the mantra of “reduce, reuse and recycle” to make PBD a carbon neutral event. The Pravasi Bhartiya Sammad Awards will be conferred by the President Draupadi Murmu in the Valedictory session of the Pravasi Bhartiye Divas celebrations.
- -Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
