Inaugural function of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Indore (Madhya Pradesh): India could emerge as the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2022 by overtaking those who ruled the country for 200 years, this was stated by Union Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur.
He was speaking at the inaugural function of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) as part of the commencement of the three-day PBD convention. Australia’s Member of Parliament, Zaneta Mascarenhas, was the guest of honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event and the occasion was graced among others by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and also three Ministers of State in MEA V Muraleedharan, Meenakshi Lekhi and Dr Ranjan Kumar Singh.
The theme of the 17th edition of the convention is ‘Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal’. More than 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 countries have registered for the convention.
When the world was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the youth of India saw an opportunity for launching start-ups, remarked Minister Anurag Thakur. He urged the young Indian diaspora to “innovate, invest and initiate ideas in India”. India could become the third largest nation with start-ups, he said.
The PBD convention is being held in a physical mode for the first time since 2019.
In his address, Minister of External Affairs, Dr Jaishankar highlighted the changes India has seen in the last eight years since 2014.
“Those of you who are coming to India after a gap would surely notice the many changes that have taken place, I would say in the last eight years but especially in the last three years. Notable among them is the extraordinary scale of digital delivery that has made possible access to social benefits and that too without leakage,”
the Minister said.
“Our efforts have been to encourage easier exposure [for diaspora] to Indian culture and traditions. Many of our embassies, in fact, most of them, offer yoga, dance and music classes and we have asked them to support and facilitate community functions and collective activities,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti initiative has brought in a sea change. “But most of all, you would sense the optimism in our society and the highlighting of the role of the youth. Whether it is start-ups or sports, whether it is technology usage or tourism, the energies of young India are increasingly visible,” Dr Jaishankar
said.
Dr Jaishankar and also Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan requested the dignitaries to visit the city’s Sarafa Bazar and ‘56 Dukan’ market areas which offer mouth-watering dishes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the PBD convention on January 9. Guyana President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be the chief guest and the Republic of Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi will be the special guest of honour.
President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2023 and preside over the valedictory session on January 10.
For the first time, there will be awardees from countries which have so far not received the awards such as Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Uzbekistan, the Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Ministerial level delegations from Mauritius, Malaysia, Panama, and big delegations of diaspora from several countries, including Mauritius, UAE, USA, Qatar and Oman, besides of course, other countries will attend the event.
There will be five plenary sessions in the PBD on the themes of Youth, Healthcare, Soft power, the Indian workforce and Woman. Four of these sessions would be headed by Cabinet Ministers and again, this is the very first time that Union Cabinet Ministers for various sessions and the panellists are drawn from different walks of life.
Arrangements have been made for a special programme on G20 where the Sherpa, Amitabh Kant and the Coordinator of G20, Harsh Vardhan Singla, will give a presentation on India’s G20 Presidency.
The Government of Madhya Pradesh will also host the Global Investor Summit 2023 immediately after the PBD.
On the second day, January 9, one session will be on the ‘Role of Indian Diaspora in promoting Indian Healthcare Ecosystem in Amrit Kaal,’ chaired by Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. In this session, the Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, will be one of the panellists”.
There will be a panel discussion on ‘Harnessing the potential of women Diaspora entrepreneurs towards an inclusive approach to nation building’, which will be chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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