Engagement with the overseas Indians for nation building: President at PBD

The overseas Indians should promote the philosophy and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of Nation, for global peace, said Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India in her Valedictory speech at the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) organized jointly by Ministry of Overseas India Affairs (MoIA), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi. She said that Gandhijee belonged to the whole world as he was the true apostle of peace.

President complimented the determination and will power of the overseas Indians along with their never giving up attitude. She emphasized the Government’s aim to engage the overseas Indians in nation building. She also recognized the role played by the Diaspora in sustaining the Indian culture and values overseas.

"India achieved a robust economic growth even when global economy was engulfed in the clutches of deep economic recession. Government is working for macro economic stability and is focusing on the development of infrastructure, social sector like health, education and rural development. The Diaspora should actively engage with the Government for the development of the country. The overseas Indian community with their skills, expertise and financial resources can partner to put India on a higher growth trajectory and participate for the betterment of the disadvantageous sections of the society", she urged.

President also gave away the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards to - Sir Anand Satyanand (Governor General of New Zealand) for his outstanding contribution in public life, Prof Veena Harbhagwan Sahajwalla (Australia) for her achievement in the field of Science, Ms Lata Pada (Canada) for her outstanding contribution in the field of arts, Mr Harindrapal Singh Banga (Hong Kong) for his outstanding contribution in the field of business, Sheikh Mohammad Munir Nazir Hassan Ansari (Israel) for his outstanding contribution in the field of community service, Mr Upjit Singh Sachdeva (Liberia) for his services to the Indian communities, Tan Sri Dato’ Ajit Singh (Malaysia) for his outstanding contribution in promoting the bilateral relation with Malaysia and ASEAN, Mr Saleh Wahid (Netherlands) for his outstanding contribution to the Indian community in the Netherlands and philanthropy work in Assam, Indian Community Benevolent Forum (Qatar) for services rendered to Indian community in Qatar, Dr Mohiaddin Syed Karimuddin (Saudi Arabia) for his outstanding contribution and services to Indian community in Saudi Arabia and social work in India, Mr Mano Selvanathan (Sri Lanka) for business achievements and social work with overseas Indians, Mr Mohan Jashanmal (UAE) for his outstanding contribution to the Indian community in UAE, Baroness (Dr) Sandip Verma (UK) for her outstanding contribution in immensely improving the understanding of India in UK through her public life, Mr Ashook Kumar Ramsaran (USA) for his immense services to the Indian community, and Dr Rajiv Shah (USA) for his contribution in enhancing the image of India through public service.

Mr Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India said that PBD is a platform for forging long term relationships with the overseas Indians. PBD 2011 focused on engagement with the young overseas Indians so that they can play an instrumental role in truly projecting the Brand India image globally. He also informed that the 10th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Jaipur.

Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas India Affairs said that PBD 2011 was the most successful edition of the PBD with over 2000 participants comprising of 1600 delegates from more than 50 countries, 50 overseas media delegates.

Mr Hari S Bhartia, President CII said PBD is perfect platform for engagement of overseas Indians with their motherland.

Mr Saleh Wahid, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee in his acceptance speech said that the awardees are very grateful to the President and Government of India for the honour. We left India but India never left us, he said.

New Delhi

9th January, 2011