January 9 marks the day Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915. However, informal meetings for the three-day event will begin on Sunday in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.?

The theme of the conference is “Diaspora: Reliable Partners for India’s Progress in Amrit Kaal”. President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be this year’s chief guest. Sixty per cent of ?Guyana’s population is of Indian origin. The special guest is Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Surinam, that also has a large 27 per cent of Indian origin people. ?

It was during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure that the first gathering of the Indian diaspora was first organised in 2003 to renew their links with their country of origin or heritage. New Delhi had watched the Chinese diaspora playing a leading role in providing the lion’s share of foreign investments in China. This was mainly in export-oriented industries to South East Asian nations like Taiwan and Singapore and other neighbours and creating an integrated interregional trading system that benefited both China and the region.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was initially an annual affair but it is held every two years since 2015. This will be its 17th edition. The idea behind the conference was to tap into the tremendous potential offered by the talent and expertise of Indian-origin people to extend India’s soft power and promote trade and investments into India.?

On occasions, leading members of the community could also act as pressure groups to influence policy decisions. During the negotiations for the India-US civil nuclear agreement, Indian-Americans played a role in promoting the pact which brought India out of its nuclear isolation and reset India-US relations. As Indian-origin persons across the world are now at the forefront of politics, technology, and business, the importance of the diaspora is growing by the day.

At the moment, there are seven Indian-origin heads of government, including three in Europe — Portugal’s Antonio Costa, Ireland’s Leo Varadhar, and UK’s Rishi Sunak. Leaders of smaller countries like Mauritius, Guyana, Surinam, and Seychelles are also headed by people of Indian origin.

There are approximately 32 million people who make up the Indian diaspora, of which 18.63 million are persons of Indian-origin but are foreign nationals, 13.45 million ?are Indian passport-holders and live abroad — of whom around 8.75 million are based in the Gulf reion. Non-resident Indians (NRIs), including the toiling working class in the Gulf region, have played a major role in sustaining India’s foreign exchange reserves. The World Bank’s report for remittances in 2021 showed India as the largest recipient at $87 billion.

As India celebrates 75 years of independence, this year’s Pravasi Divas has special significance.?

“This will be the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention as we enter the Amrit Kaal. In keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of building the Atmanirbhar Bharat over the next 25 years to 2047, we feel that the diaspora is key to India’s growth trajectory,” said Ausaf Sayeed, Secretary (Consular Passport and Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs.?

At a briefing, he further said in response to a reporter’s question, “The Government of India is very keen to streamline the emigration processes and also to create new mobility pathways for our individuals so that we could provide newer opportunities for them to look for jobs.”?

But Sayeed was not certain if the issue would be taken up during the conference. He added that now is the time to redefine the role of ?immigration officers from “regulators to facilitators”.

Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of External Affairs Subramanyam Jaishankar and senior Cabinet ministers like Nirmala Sitaraman would also address the gathering. President Droupadi Murmu will personally hand over the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to 27 people.