The President of Mauritius Rajkeswar Kailash Purryag, a person of Indian origin (PIO) a Chief Guest on the occasion, described India as a close friend.

Inaugurating the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD-11) here on Tuesday, Dr Singh said : “We in the Government will do all that is possible to deepen their (Overseas Indians) connection with India and advance their interests. While honouring their achievements, we will also seek to facilitate their travel, business and education and make it easier for them to be a part of life in India, enjoy due rights and participate in India’s economic development.”

The theme of the PBD-11 is “Engaging Diaspora : The Indian Growth Story”. The PBD, this year, has over 2,000 delegates. There are 34 Overseas Indian students from nine countries including Israel, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, US who were invited under Know India Programme.

Dr Singh said : “This year, we are celebrating the centenary of the Gadar Movement, which was a luminous spark of support in distant California for the struggle for independence being waged at home in our country. Apart from commemorating it by the issue of a special postage stamp today, we will also upgrade the Gadar Memorial in San Francisco into a functional museum and library with a sculpture to honour the Gadar Babas, the heroes of this great national movement.”

Dwelling on the problems of Indians working and settled abroad, the Prime Minister said : “As the Indian expatriate community develops a more global presence, they also become more vulnerable to economic crises, conflicts, civil unrest or just senseless hate crimes. At a time of turbulence in many parts of the world, the safety and security of overseas Indian communities are uppermost in our minds. We derive comfort from the assurances that we have received from governments in the countries of your residence that they will do everything for your safety and security. We recognize that the primary responsibility rests with the host countries, but when needed, as was the case last year in Libya, our government will provide prompt and necessary assistance.”

Not only physical safety, the Prime Minister said “we are also concerned with the social and emotional well-being of our overseas brethren. “ He mentioned about launching of an insurance scheme for workers, setting up of welfare funds in embassies for distressed Indians and creating mechanisms to help vulnerable women abroad.”

“This protection and promotion of the rights and interests of Indian businesses, professionals and workers abroad is also a key task for our Missions in various countries. Our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements and Social Security Agreements with a number of countries play an important role in this regard,” he said.

He urged the Overseas Indians to invest in their ancestral country and assured them of Government’s determination to to turn any setback into an opportunity to improve legal and regulatory framework.

Dr Singh complimented the Mauritius President by saying that he has a “record of public service over four decades and his many achievements are a source of great pride for people of Indian origin across the world.”

“We are also extremely grateful to the Government of Mauritius for its support to the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention held in Port Louis in October 2012,” he said.

The Mauritius President Rajkeswar Kailash Purryag said : 'I assure the country that we will support India in its attempt for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council..... I'm looking forward to the deliberations that will take place in the coming two days because the value the diaspora brings to India is huge,'

The Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahamed said that according to the World Bank India has ranked first in getting remittances from Overseas Indians amounting to $70 billion, relegating China to a second position with remittances of $66 billion from Chinese settled abroad. A major portion of remittances to India came from Indians working in Gulf countries.

“We must continue to work on a war footing towards educating and training our workers lest they are cheated by unscrupulous elements in India and in host countries, in ensuring a smooth re-integration of the returning workers into the home economy and motivate those that have the desire and the potential to become post return entrepreneurs,” he said.

In his speech, the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi announced that the merger of the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin Card (PIO) cards may become a reality very soon. Outlining the steps taken by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, he said that the Ministry has signed four new Social Security Agreements (SSA) with Finland, Canada, Japan and Sweden. Two more SSAs with Austria and Portugal would be signed in the next couple of months.

Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana has been launched on a pilot basis. This scheme will provide to Indian workers a life insurance, a pension, and a lumpsum for rehabilitation, once they return to India.

Urging the Overseas Indians to invest in India, the Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said : “The FDI policy is made more rational and friendly. The national investment rate is around 33-34%, and by the end of 12th Plan the aim is to increase to 36.”

The Indian Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath said that the country was facing challenges in infrastructure development, especially in urban sector. Today, around 430 million people are residing in cities and in the next decade, the number will increase to 600 million. Similarly, at present, there are 53 cities in India, and it will rise to 72 in the next decade years, each having a population of one million.

The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that encouraging long term FDI flows would be more fruitful.

The Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy while addressing the session told that his Government is willing to provide return tickets to all those Keralites when they are in difficulty and intend to come back. He said that in order to improve the infrastructure and economic standards further the State has taken several investment friendly steps in the recent past. In the recent The Emerging Kerala Meet, investment proposal and Expression of Interest for more than 40,000 crores were received.

Minister of Industries and Information Technology of Kerala, P K Kunhalikutty and President of a apex Indian industry body - FICCI - Naina Lal Kidwai also spoke on the occasion.