Dear Editor,
I write to congratulate President Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar on his invitation as the Chief Guest at this year’s 13th Annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Global Indian Conference). A handful of Guyanese who included New York based Ramesh Kalicharran, Dharamdatt Sukhai and myself lobbied Indian politicians and leaders of Indian organizations in America (Dr Mukund Modi, among others) for such an event prior to the BJP coming to power in 1997. The BJP government established a commission led by eminent jurist Dr LM Singhvi that held discussions with leaders of overseas Indian organizations on how to strengthen relations between India and her diaspora; the group met Guyanese reps in NY and also travelled to Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname interacting with prominent Indians. We recommended a diaspora conference to address issues impacting Indians in the diaspora. This led to the holding of the first PBD in January 2003 that has become an annual event from January 7 to 9 to help forge links between them and India. I attended several of these Pravasi; they are highly recommended.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is the world’s largest annual gathering of people of Indian origin and is aimed at enhancing networking and reinforcing commercial linkages. There are 25 million people of Indian origin outside India holding influential positions in government, NGOs, business and sports. The Indian government is seeking to capitalize on their presence to enhance relations between their adopted countries and India for mutual progress and development.
There is a Chief Guest (a prominent Indian in government) every year. President Jagdeo was the Chief Guest in 2004. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Chief Guest in 2012. There were also heads or deputy heads of government or state of New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius and Suriname as Chief Guests, who were also conferred the prestigious Samman Medal. Other prominent Indians are also recognized for their contributions to their home countries or to the diaspora or to India.
Besides Mr Jagdeo, other Guyanese awardees are Yesu Persaud, Sridath Ramphal, and NY based Ashok Ramsarran. Rohan Kanhai and Alvin Kalicharran were also selected for the Samman but did not attend the conference to be conferred with it.
President Ramotar will deliver the feature address on Thursday morning and will be conferred with the Samman award at a special dinner on Friday evening.
While in India, President Ramotar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other senior government and opposition leaders. A press release from the Ministry of External Affairs noted that India and Guyana are embedded in historical, cultural and traditional links, and that Mr Ramotar’s presence is expected to strengthen relations between the two democracies. “The visit will contribute to further strengthening and deepening the close bilateral relations between India and Guyana,” it stated.
President Ramotar was received by Minister Swaraj in Delhi. He presented her with a Guyanese commemorative PIO coin. They will meet later in discussion to further relations between the two democracies.
At the PBD, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in office since last May, hopes to woo NRI and PIO entrepreneurs to invest in India in what he describes as six flagship programmes, including Digital India, Make in India, Clean Ganga campaign, Swachh Bharat and a skills development initiative. The event is being held in Gandhinagar, named after Mahatma Gandhi, in Gujarat to mark the centenary of the return of the ‘Sarva Sreshtha Pravasi Bharatiya,’ or foremost Indian diaspora member, Mahatma Gandhi, to India from South Africa. Gandhi led the struggle for India’s independence. India’s freedom led to the independence of most colonies. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever as well as subjugated people worldwide.
At PBD, on display is an exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi and his contribution to India’s independence. South Africa’s Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, is the guest of honour at that event.
The event is addressing the concerns of the diaspora living in the Gulf countries, in francophone countries (including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, St Martin, Martinique, and other Caribbean territories), and other societies where the descendants of Indian indentured labourers live (like Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, St Lucia, etc). The conference also addresses concerns of the many associations in the Indian diaspora. There was also a special session for the diaspora youth that was inaugurated by the Foreign Minister on January 7. Several Guyanese from New York, Toronto and Guyana are attending the conference. A delegation of Guyanese business persons are also participating in the global meet.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
