India needs PIOs' emotional mindshare: PM

NEW DELHI: For 1200 people of Indian origin from around 50 countries across the world who had gathered at the Vigyan Bhavan in the Capital on Sunday for the 5th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD), it was a homecoming of sorts for the global Indian family.
Themed "Rooting for the roots", the three-day jamboree is looking at expanding the horizons already built with the 25-million strong global Indian Diaspora and announcing to the world that it is all one big family.And PBD is not looking at financial or monetary assistance from its overseas family but intellectual capital, emotional anchorage and social contribution to help make India a better place.
"I would like overseas Indians to take full advantage of India's growing economic prowess and invest in a new India. We don't need financial investment alone -- but intellectual, social, cultural and emotional investment from overseas Indians as their roots are what brings them here," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said, while inaugurating the 5th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in the Capital on Sunday.
The PM also urged the Diaspora to play a bigger role in India's great adventure of building an India free from war, want and exploitation. Calling for enhancing educational opportunities for PIOs for study in India, Singh said that Indian universities must be more receptive to kids of overseas Indians.
Expressing satisfaction that Singapore, along with china, Japan and South Korea was pitching in for the Nalanda project, the PM further stated that India's historic excellence in terms of education would help in its image equity. He also said that the Centre and the Overseas ministry was actively mulling over the proposal to establish a University for Persons of Indian Origin, which was mooted last year during the Pravasi meet in Hyderabad.
Although the focus was on overseas Indians, the contribution of the Indian-American community did not go completely unrecognized. Both the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi acknowledged the "stellar" role that the community played during the passing of the Indo-US civil nuke accord.
"The Indian community and its leaders played a key role in highlighting the importance of the Indo-US nuclear deal in the US and elsewhere," the Prime Minister said in his speech.
Harping on the ancient Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukam - the whole world is one family, the Prime Minister reminded the congregation that unlike the end of numerous big empires of the world, the sun will never go down on the Indian Disapora.
"Across borders, the people of Indian origin are the world's most globalised community," he said to a packed audience.
Terming PBD as a celebration of the global Indianness, he reminded that January 9 was a significant date in the Indian almanac as the Mahatma, one of the world's greatest adventurers had chosen this day to return to India form South Africa and wage a war against the British.
Lakshmi Mittal, Zubin Mehta, Amartya Sen, Indra Nooyi and Kalpana Chawla, the PM said were the diverse faces of the global India success story. He said that India's pluralism, inclusiveness and "live and let live" policy will help them become famous.