Govt Working on Making India A Business-Friendly Destination For NRIs: S Jaishankar

In an effort to make India a business-friendly destination, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Central government would like the NRIs to invest in a big way in the country and soon steps will be taken to facilitate it.

While interacting with NRIs in Australia, Surinam, the US, Singapore, Quatar, Malaysia, the UK and Mauritius through video conferencing on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the External Affairs Minister said he would find a practical solution to the issue of tracing of roots for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs).

Replying to a query, Jaishankar said, “We as a country, as a government definitely would like to see the NRIs invest metaphorically and literally in India in a bigger way.”

Jaishankar further stated that the MEA will also seriously think about organising a ‘pravasi global CEO conference’ sometime this year in London. “We hope to take measures soon to facilitate investment by NRIs and PIOs,” Jaishnkar added.

Talking about manual workers being exploited in a number of Gulf countries, Jaishankar said the matter was very strong on the government’s radar and it will remain vigilant. He further added that the government hopes to issue the Emigration Bill soon.

Apart from Jaishankar, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and Secretary, East, Vijay Thakur Singh were also present at the celebrations.

To mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community in the development of the country, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated on January 9 every year.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated on January 9 because on this day in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi had to India from South Africa and had led India’s freedom struggle.