Bhubaneswar: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said the country has started its journey of Vikashit Bharat with the younger generations shaping significant global changes, including innovations in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, startups, and even cricket and chess.
Speaking during the inaugural ceremony of 18th edition of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar, Jaishankar added that young Indians today are succeeding in so many domains and it’s important that we recognise that.
The minister emphasised the importance of India’s diaspora, terming it as the “living bridge” that connects India to the world and said the country, as a major rising power, “has used, is using, and will continue to use its diaspora as a very important pathway of its globalisation and for its rise in the international order.”
Over 5,000 non-resident Indians (NRIs) from 50 countries have assembled in Bhubaneswar for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event on Thursday.
Highlighting India’s achievements, Jaishankar cited the country’s Covid-19 response, where India emerged as a global supplier of vaccines and medicines, defying initial predictions. He also noted India’s digital progress, citing the scale of UPI transactions and the presence of 90,000 startups and over 100 unicorns.
“While development itself is a very complex task, it becomes easier when we are confident that nothing is beyond us. I still recall some time ago an observation by a famous Indian badminton player PV Sindhu on why PM Modi is a youth icon. She summed it up as his attitude which moved the nation from ‘chalta hai’ to ‘badal sakta hai’ to ‘hoga kaise nahi’,” he said.
On the government’s choice of Dev Pragad, president and CEO of Newsweek magazine as the guest of honour for the event, Jaishankar said normally the government picks somebody from the political world for that position (guest of honour). “On this occasion we have made a departure – I think a very understandable and a very justifiable departure of picking someone from the world of media, from the world of business,” he said.
Urging the members of the Indian diaspora to promote India as a tourist destination, he said India regularly welcomes the visits of person of Indian origin (PIO) journalists to India. “Let me take the opportunity to urge you on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote India as a tourism destination. If young Indian PIOs bring their equally young friends from abroad to explore this uniquely rich and diverse heritage and culture, this will surely become a lifelong habit for them,” he said.
He further said, “This state (Odisha) offers a tremendous opportunity to experience personally much of what we would be discussing in the course of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Its cultural festivals and religious and archaeological sites are a reminder of why we in India consider ourselves to be a civilisational society.”
He said tourism is the biggest employer generator and multiplier in the world and emphasised that it is a transformative sector that can drive job creation and inclusive growth in Odisha.
Terming “3Ts” (Trade, Technology, and Tourism) as the three pillars of economic growth, Jaishankar urged Odisha to leverage its resources, talent, and strategic location for future development. “Odisha is rich in resources but these need investments, infrastructure, and connectivity to unlock their full potential. Resources need investments, resources need facility, resources need connectivity,” he remarked, highlighting the importance of adding value to raw materials and utilising Odisha’s prime location along India’s eastern seaboard to strengthen trade ties, especially with Southeast Asia.
On Technology, he said, “Technology is increasingly associated with trusted talent and Odisha needs to tap its local talent pool to foster collaborations in the tech sector.”
Addressing the attendees on the opening day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Odisha chief minister Mohan Majhi said the state offers myriad opportunities in technology, renewable energy, infrastructure development, education and tourism. “We also value the role of the diaspora in promoting ‘Brand Odisha’ globally. You are our ambassadors, bridging cultures and creating opportunities for Odisha on the world stage. The culture and heritage of Odisha are unique,” he said, while appealing to the people of Bhubaneswar to decorate their houses as they do during Diwali celebration.
The PBD Convention will have five thematic plenary sessions – Beyond Borders: Diaspora Youth Leadership in a Globalized World; Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Stories of Migrant Skills; Green Connections: Diaspora’s Contributions to Sustainable Development; Diaspora Divas: Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Influence – Nari Shakti; and Diaspora Dialogues: Stories of Culture, Connection and Belongingness.
It will also have four mega exhibitions – Vishwaroop Ram, to showcase the epic of Ramayana; Diaspora’s Contribution to Technology and Viksit Bharat; Spread and Evolution of Indian diaspora in the world, with a focus on showcasing rare documents of people who had migrated from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman; and Heritage and Culture of Odisha.
PM Modi on Thursday will also launch the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train designed for the Indian diaspora.
