Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on Wednesday. The three-day-long event, however, started on Tuesday with youth conferences. President Pranab Mukherjee will award Pravasi Bharatiya Samman to eminent person from the Indian Diaspora.
Inaugurating the youth seminar on Tuesday, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said partnerships between young Indians in the country and those residing overseas in industry and social sectors would create jobs and bring prosperity.
Referring to the opportunities for growth and development that India’s growing economy presents today, he said “the interactions should foster greater connectivity between Indian and diaspora youth, which should eventually result in economic cooperation leading to the creation of wealth, livelihoods and prosperity.”
Ravi said that in this age of globalisation, there are greater trade and business links between nations.”Indian youth and their diaspora counterparts should come together in developing strong networks, which would lead to partnerships in trade, industry, entrepreneurship and social work,” he said.
Youth Affairs and Sports minister Jitendra Singh and Information Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari also addressed different session of youth seminar. Tewari claimed that in this age of internet, border controls and visas have less significance as it was fast becoming a “seamless world”.
“Internet represents the largest ungoverned space on planet Earth... The world is marked by two civilisations today — the physical civilisation and the virtual civilisation,” Tewari said. He expressed hope that the conclave will see a constructive and fruitful engagement between the diaspora, the Indian Government and people.