PRESIDENT INVITES NRIS TO BECOME PART OF INDIA’S GROWTH STORY
VARANASI : President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday invited non-resident Indians (NRIs) to become a part of India’s growth story and described them as a living bridge between India and the rest of the world. Speaking as the chief guest at the valedictory session of the three-day PBD convention in Varanasi, he said, “India, today, is a land of billion ideas. India, today, is a land of billion opportunities. I invite each one of you to become a part of India’s growth story which is being etched by its billion minds.”
VARANASI : President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday invited non-resident Indians (NRIs) to become a part of India’s growth story and described them as a living bridge between India and the rest of the world.
Speaking as the chief guest at the valedictory session of the three-day PBD convention in Varanasi, he said, “India, today, is a land of billion ideas. India, today, is a land of billion opportunities. I invite each one of you to become a part of India’s growth story which is being etched by its billion minds.”
“We want to leverage your technology, know-how and investment to power our Make in India, Digital India, Clean India and Skill India programmes. We count on your convening strength to encourage people to visit India, as knowledge-providers and as tourists,” he added.
He said he wanted more and more of NRIs to connect with their ancestral villages and towns.“We want to change the brain-drain of yesterday to braingain of today. I once again call upon you to contribute and partner us in the New India that we are committed to build and to become a part of India’s history in making,” he said. He said the success and hard work of the NRIs had set an example which many wanted to emulate.“We count each one of you as our cultural ambassador. You are the face of India and its identity abroad,” he said. Asserting that India, indeed, was proud of NRIs and their achievements, the President said but what really “makes your contributions standout are the values that you espouse and live for”. “These are values that intrinsically remain Indian, drawn from millennia of thought and progress, and which are firmly anchored in our age-old belief of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbamkam” that is the World is One Family,” he said. The last few years had seen a sea-change in the way India engaged its people abroad, Kovind said, adding that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India had worked hard to connect its 1.3 billion people with its 31-million strong diaspora.
“New programmes have been established to bring Indians and Indian-origin people living abroad closer to our hearts and minds,” he said.
“Projects such as the ‘Know India Programme’ and the “Bharat Ko Janiye quiz” have instilled our youth with a new sense of confidence in their motherland. They want to strengthen their connect with India, for emotional and cultural reasons, but increasingly for other persuasive reasons too,” the President said.
He said the breakthroughs happening in India in the fields of innovation, research, start-ups and digital revolution were attracting people from far and wide.“To give this pull a concrete shape, India has started “Experience the Scientific India Programme” for our young diaspora scientists. India wants them to become a bridge between us and the world so that we can crosspollinate and enrich each other,” the President said.
He expressed joy on being among the NRIs at the closing session of the PBD, calling the occasion special. He said the august presence of Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth as the chief guest at the PBD made the event more special and attested to the unique ties that India shares with Mauritius.
Kovind recalled that the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was celebrated in 2003.