New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): Arun Kumar Chatterjee, the Secretary (CPV & OIA) in the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday that the Odisha government will host two plenary sessions that will showcase the enormous potential that can be harnessed by the Indian Diaspora in Odisha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the convention and will remotely flag off the inaugural journey of the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for the Indian Diaspora.
“The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas would be celebrated on the first day, that is January 8. It will be jointly organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government to India in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs. Honorable Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, Honorable Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margarita and the Guest of Honor Dev Pragad will all address the Indian Diaspora delegates at the Pravasi Bharatiya Youth Convention,” he said.
Chatterjee said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair a business session with the business community.
“The Inauguration of the Youth PBD will be followed by a special plenary session on the theme titled ‘Beyond Borders: Diaspora Youth Leadership in a Globalized World.’ This will be chaired by the Honorable Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mandviya. As a parallel event, the Honorable Chief Minister of Odisha and the Honorable External Affairs Minister would be chairing a business session with the business community of the visiting Indian diaspora,” he said.
He added that there would be five plenary sessions where they will share Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ with the members of Indian Diaspora.
“There would be five plenary sessions which would be chaired by Union Ministers and moderated by eminent Indians from their respective fields. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has given us the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. We have taken the initiative of not only sharing this vision with our esteemed diaspora, but have also urged them to partner our journey towards this cherished goal. The Indian Diaspora has an important role to play in the vision of Viksit Bharat. It acts as a living bridge between their motherland and their adopted homeland. That is why the Government of India has chosen the diaspora’s contribution to a Viksit Bharat as the overarching theme of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas,” he said.
The afternoon of January 8 will witness two plenary sessions that would highlight the efforts that can be taken by the diaspora in developing Odisha.
“On the afternoon of the first day, the State Government of Odisha would be hosting two plenary sessions, the first one is called ‘Unraveling India’s Best Kept Secret’ and the second one is titled ‘Orissa: A Land of Opportunities’. At these two sessions, the State Government of Orissa would showcase the enormous potential that could be harnessed by the Indian diaspora in Orissa through their engagements in developing and promoting tourism, trade, investments in different sectors such as textiles and garments, forest products, healthcare, pharma, food processing and startups,” he said.
Chatterjee said that in the Convention, the delegates will be given an opportunity to feel the heritage of Odisha by taking then on visits to several places of major importance.
“The State Government of Orissa would also offer the PBD delegates an opportunity to have a glimpse and feel of its rich cultural heritage embodied in its intrinsic and diverse art forms and its different popular festivals by conducting their visits to several places of touristic and cultural attractions. Arrangements have been made to serve several cuisines of Orissa to the delegates during the courts of the next three days,” he said.
Chatterjee said that PM Modi will inaugurate the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for the Indian diaspora which will depart from Delhi and would travel to multiple destinations of touristic and religious importance.
“As I have mentioned earlier, the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas would be formally inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of India on day two of the convention. He will also address the convention. The Prime Minister will remotely flag off the inaugural journey of the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for the Indian diaspora which will depart from Delhi and would travel to multiple destinations of touristic and religious importance in India for a period of three weeks. This will be conducted under the Pravasi Bharatiya Tirth Yatra Tirth Darshan Yojana of the Ministry of External Affairs,” he said.
PM Modi will also inaugurate four exhibitions that are based on cultural heritage of the country.
“The Honourable Prime Minister will also inaugurate four exhibitions. The first one is called Vishvarup Ram: The Universal Legacy of Ramayana. This exhibition would present the timeless epic of Ramayana through a curated juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary art forms. The second exhibition is titled The Diaspora’s Contribution to Technology and Viksit Bharat. This exhibition would acknowledge the contributions of the Indian diaspora to the development of technology in the world. The third exhibition titled The Spread and Evolution of Indian diaspora in the World with special focus on Mandvi to Muscat. This will showcase the rare documents of people who had migrated from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman. The 4th one is an exhibition which is called The Heritage and Culture of Odisha. This exhibition will showcase the rich heritage and culture traditions of Odisha through its different art and craft forms and highlights its illustrious legacy,” he said.
Chatterjee said that there will be promotional stalls which will present a view of development strides taken by India during last decade.
“There would also be promotional stalls set up by several Union ministries and departments of the Government of India and also those by the State Government of Orissa and other State Governments of India with a view to project the impressive development strides taken by India during the last decade as a part of its march towards Viksit Bharat,” he said.
Chatterjee said that there will be a total of plenary sessions in the afternoon of the second day.
“In the afternoon of the second day we will have two plenary sessions, one titled, Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers, stories of migrant skills. This would be chaired by Shobha Karandlaje, Honorable Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labor and Employment. This will be followed by a plenary session called Green Connections: Diaspora Contribution to Sustainable Development to be chaired by the Honorable Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnav,” he said.
On the final day, President Droupadi Murmu will confer awards to 27 members of the Indian diaspora to recognise their contribution in several fields.
“On the final day of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, Honorable President Droupadi Murmu would chair the valedictory session in the afternoon at which she would confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards on 27 distinguished members of the Indian diaspora to recognize their outstanding contribution and achievements in diverse fields- both in their countries of residents as well as in India. Awards would be conferred to Indian Diaspora from 24 countries. Murmu would also deliver the Valedictory address at this session,” he said.
This will be followed by two plenary sessions, on women’s leadership and ‘diaspora dialogues’.
“The valedictory session would be preceded by two more plenary sessions. The first one is called Diaspora Divas Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Influence: Nari Shakti which would be chaired by the Honorable External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. And the second one will be on Diaspora dialogues: stories of culture, connections and belongingness that would be chaired by the Honorable Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Friends, there would be several cultural performances every day in the evenings on January 8-10,” he said.
Chatterjee said that the discussions are expected to focus on contributions of Indian diaspora in India.
“Considering the theme of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, we expect that the discussions would take place on how the diaspora can facilitate India’s development, growth and its international engagements and on what opportunities India can offer to them, specifically the opportunities that are available in Odisha. The convention will showcase the vibrancy of the Indian diaspora and their achievements abroad. The exhibitions are being organized to spotlight the contributions of the Indian diaspora and how they have acted as a vehicle for promotion of Indian culture, values and ethos abroad,” he said.
PM Modi will inaugurate the PBD, and Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will be the Chief Guest of the event.
“The upcoming 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas would be held, in Bhubaneshwar from tomorrow that is from January 8-10 in partnership with the State Government of Orissa. The Pravasi Bharatiya Convention is being organized for the first time in the State of Orissa, which is famous for its rich historical, cultural and spiritual heritage. As you are aware that since 2017, the Pravasi Bharatiya Conventions are being held once every two years. The last Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held at Indore in January 2023 in partnership with the State Government of Madhya Pradesh. The 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Convention will be formally inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on January 9. Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will be the Chief Guest of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and she would be virtually addressing the convention. Dev Pragad, CEO and co-founder of the Newsweek will be the guest of honor at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on 8th January. We will have Ministerial level delegations from Mauritius, Malaysia and South Africa and big delegations of diaspora from several other countries including from Malaysia, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, UAE, UK and USA,” he said. (ANI)
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