285 law makers of Indian Origin to interact on January 9

NEW DELHI, Dec 22: In yet another instance of the Government giving priority to engaging with the Indian diaspora, India will host a conference of members of parliaments in other countries who are of Indian origin next year, a senior official said here on Friday.

“We will have a PIO (person of Indian origin) Parliamentary Conference on January 9, 2018 in New Delhi,” said Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs), a newly created post in the Ministry of Exterl Affairs.

“There are around 285 parliamentarians of Indian origin and over 125 of them are expected to come,” Mulay said during a media interaction organised by the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents (IAFAC).

Of these 285 parliamentarians, 70 are Ministers, Speakers and even Prime Ministers in their respective countries.

In the US alone, there are four members of the House of Representatives and one setor who are of Indian origin.

Giving an update on the work of his division in the ministry, Mulay said that the Government has laid a strong foundation by making diplomacy people-centric.

Stating that the Government’s interaction with the Indian diaspora has been “transformatiol”, he said that the total number of such diaspora around the world now stands at 31.2 million. (IANS)