Large diaspora delegations from several countries to attend 18th PBD Convention in Odisha

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Large delegations of the Indian diaspora from several countries including Malaysia, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, UAE, UK and the US will be attending the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention that is being held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 9.

Trinidad and Tobago President Christine Carla Kangaloo will be the Chief Guest and she will virtually address the Convention, while Dev Pragad, CEO and co-founder of Newsweek, will be the Guest of Honor at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held on January 8.

There will also be ministerial level delegations attending from Mauritius, Malaysia and South Africa. Five plenary sessions will be held, to be chaired by Union Ministers and moderated by eminent Indians from their respective fields, Arun Chatterjee, Secretary (CPV & OIA) in the MEA, said at a briefing.

The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, being held on January 8, is being jointly organized by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs. The Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, MOS for External Affairs, Pabitra Margherita and the guest of honor Dev Pragad will address the Indian diaspora delegates at the Pravasi Bharatiya Youth Convention, he said.

The Youth PBD will host a special plenary session on the theme Beyond Borders, Diaspora, Youth Leadership in a Globalised World, to be chaired by Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. As a parallel event, the Odisha Chief Minister and EAM would be chairing a business session with the business community of the visiting Indian diaspora.

The Odisha Government would be hosting two plenary sessions — Unraveling India’s Best Kept Secret and Odisha, a Land of Opportunities – that will see the state government showcase the enormous potential that can be harnessed by the Indian diaspora in Odisha 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 start-ups, the top official added.
The State Government will provide a glimpse of the state’s rich cultural heritage by conducting visits of the delegations to several places of touristic and cultural attractions near Bhubaneswar. They would also be served cuisines of Odisha.

Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the PBD Convention on Day 2, and also address the delegates. He 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 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 Tirthi Yatra Tirth Darshan Yojana of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate four exhibitions. The first one is called Vishwaroop Ram, the Universal Legacy of Ramayana; the second exhibition is titled The Diaspora’s Contribution to Technology and Viksit Bharat, which 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, will showcase the rare documents of people who had migrated from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman.

The fourth is an exhibition 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 legacies.

President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the Valedictory Session on January 10, during which she will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025 upon select members of the Indian diaspora in recognition of their achievements and to honour their contributions in various fields in India and abroad.

The PBD Convention will have five thematic plenary sessions as follows:

• “Beyond Borders: Diaspora Youth Leadership in a Globalized World”;
• “Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Stories of Migrant Skills”;
• “Green Connections: Diaspora’s Contributions to Sustainable Development”;
• “Diaspora Divas: Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Influence – Nari Shakti”; and
• “Diaspora Dialogues: Stories of Culture, Connection and Belongingness”.

All the Plenary Sessions will feature panel discussions involving eminent diaspora experts.

Source: UNI

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