New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) Over 1,500 delegates will participate in the forthcoming annual jamboree of the people of Indian origin, to be held in Chennai in the first week of next year.
Surinam Vice-President Ramdien Saredjoe will be the chief guest of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ (PBD) 2009 edition, which will be held Jan 7-9.
Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi took stock of the preparations at a meeting in Chennai Friday.
“He (Ravi) pointed out that the PBD-2009 has assumed greater significance in view of the global economic crisis that created a need for increased interaction between India and the ‘people of Indian origin’,” said a government statement.
The function, to be held for the first time in Chennai since it was made an annual programme in 2003, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The valedictory address will be given by President Pratibha Patil.
The president will also confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards Jan 9.
Other important guests include Mauritius Vice-President Angidi Chettiar, former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhury and former Malaysian minister Samy Vellu.
The event is being organised by the ministry of overseas Indian affairs in partnership with the Tamil Nadu government and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The theme is ‘Engaging the Diaspora – the Way Forward’, with sessions reflecting diaspora concerns on the current economic crisis and cultural linkages with India.
There will also be separate meetings on different states, which will be attended by chief ministers, including Kerala’s V.S. Achuthananthan and Gujarat’s Narendra Modi.