Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: EAM Jaishankar Explains Why India Must Look Beyond Its Overseas Community's Roots

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India’s ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2047 provides an important context for its renewed engagement with the overseas community. Achieving this vision will require sustained progress in scientific research, education, technological innovation and entrepreneurship. The diaspora possesses considerable expertise and international networks across these fields, creating opportunities for collaboration that can support India’s development priorities.

For decades, India watched its people leave in search of opportunity. Today, it is discovering the opportunities their journeys have created. Across continents, generations of Indians have carried their languages, traditions and memories into unfamiliar societies, preserving their connection with an ancestral homeland while building new lives. Their journeys have created one of the world’s largest overseas communities, whose growing influence offers India an important bridge to international markets, institutions and centres of innovation.

The relationship between India and its diaspora is consequently acquiring a renewed significance. Cultural belonging remains its foundation, but India’s expanding economic ambitions and international engagement are giving it a wider purpose. The challenge is to translate inherited affection into meaningful participation and bring overseas Indians closer to a country whose economic and global position is changing rapidly.

This evolving approach formed the central message of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s address at the launch of the website for the 19th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention on November 11, 2026, in New Delhi. Jointly launched by Jaishankar and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the website marks the beginning of preparations for the convention, scheduled to take place in Kolkata from January 7 to 9, 2027, in collaboration with the Government of West Bengal.

The theme, ‘From Roots to Return: Reigniting Diaspora Connect with Bharat’, captures the intention behind the forthcoming gathering. It seeks to reconnect overseas Indians with their ancestral heritage while creating opportunities for them to participate in India’s contemporary transformation. This approach recognises that the country’s growing economic capabilities and international ambitions offer new avenues for strengthening its relationship with the global Indian community.

A Living Bridge to the World

India’s overseas community has become an important part of its international identity. According to the figures provided for January 2025, approximately 35.4 million overseas Indians live across the world, making the community one of the largest of its kind. Their presence stretches from the Gulf and Southeast Asia to Europe, North America, Africa and the Caribbean, creating extensive networks of cultural and professional relationships.

The economic contribution of this community is particularly evident in India’s remittance figures. Inward remittances increased from USD 55.6 billion in 2010-11 to USD 118.7 billion in 2023-24, more than doubling over thirteen years. The United States accounted for 27.7 per cent of these inflows in 2023-24, compared with 23.4 per cent in 2020-21, while Gulf Cooperation Council countries contributed approximately 38 per cent. The latter figure reflects the continuing importance of Indian workers employed across construction, healthcare, hospitality and other services.

However, remittances represent only one dimension of diaspora influence. Overseas Indians occupy influential positions in business, scientific research, academia and technology. Their professional experience and international networks can connect Indian institutions with overseas markets, facilitate research partnerships and create opportunities that conventional diplomatic engagement may take considerably longer to establish.

Jaishankar’s description of the diaspora as a ‘living bridge’ between India and the world therefore carries considerable significance. Its members contribute to the societies in which they live while maintaining connections with their country of origin, creating relationships that can strengthen India’s economic and international engagement.

The negotiations surrounding the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement demonstrated how these networks could influence an important bilateral relationship. Members of the Indian-American community actively engaged American lawmakers, organised outreach campaigns and mobilised support for the agreement. Their involvement illustrated the capacity of diaspora networks to complement official diplomacy and contribute to outcomes of wider national importance.

India’s global ambitions can benefit considerably from such relationships. Overseas Indians can facilitate investment, connect institutions and strengthen international partnerships through networks developed over decades. Their contribution deserves sustained engagement rather than recognition confined to occasional ceremonial gatherings.

When Ancestral Memories Need Fresh Connections

The relationship between India and its diaspora faces a generational challenge. While earlier generations often maintained direct connections with their ancestral villages and communities, younger overseas Indians have largely grown up in societies with different cultural environments and national identities. Their understanding of India is consequently shaped more by family histories, inherited traditions and cultural associations than by personal experience of the country’s transformation.

This distance does not necessarily weaken their attachment, but rather changes the nature of that relationship. Even the deepest roots cannot sustain a tree without fresh nourishment. Heritage, too, needs living connections to flourish.

The 19th PBD seeks to address this challenge by encouraging younger members of the diaspora to rediscover their heritage and develop a better understanding of contemporary India. The objective is to make their connection relevant to their present lives and future aspirations rather than relying entirely on memories of an ancestral homeland.

Cultural affinity can preserve a relationship across generations, but meaningful engagement requires opportunities to participate and contribute. India’s expanding economy, technological capabilities and entrepreneurial environment provide avenues through which younger overseas Indians can reconnect with the country beyond traditional cultural associations.

A researcher working abroad, for instance, may find opportunities to collaborate with Indian universities, while entrepreneurs can explore partnerships with businesses operating in India’s growing markets. Such engagement gives ancestral connections a practical dimension and allows younger generations to participate in the country’s development without compromising the identities they have developed in their adopted societies. The idea of reconnecting with Bharat is therefore as much about creating a shared future as preserving a common past.

Revisiting the Journey of India’s Overseas Indians

The decision to host the 19th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Kolkata carries particular historical significance. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the city served as an important departure point for Indians travelling to destinations such as Mauritius, Fiji and the Caribbean. Many left under difficult circumstances, facing uncertainty and separation from their families and familiar surroundings.

They carried their languages, religious traditions and cultural practices into unfamiliar societies, preserving important elements of their identity while adapting to new environments. Over successive generations, these communities developed distinct identities, yet their ancestral connections continued to shape their relationship with India.

The descendants of those early migrants now form an integral part of the social and cultural fabric of several countries. Their experiences demonstrate how migration can extend a country’s cultural presence far beyond its geographical boundaries, creating communities whose histories remain connected to their ancestral homeland.

Kolkata thus offers more than a venue for the forthcoming convention. Its association with the early journeys of Indian migrants gives the theme ‘From Roots to Return’ an additional historical dimension. Hosting the PBD in this city provides an opportunity to revisit the circumstances of those departures and appreciate the communities that emerged from them.

For West Bengal, the convention also offers an opportunity to present its cultural heritage, historical landmarks and contemporary economic opportunities to an international audience. Stronger engagement with overseas Indians could help the state develop relationships with communities whose ancestral histories are closely associated with its past.

Bringing the Diaspora into Viksit Bharat 2047

Its contribution, however, should extend beyond financial investment. Overseas professionals can facilitate research partnerships, entrepreneurs can help Indian businesses access international markets, and academics can strengthen institutional exchanges. These relationships can improve access to knowledge and enable Indian institutions to participate more actively in global innovation networks.

The partnership must also remain mutually beneficial. Overseas Indians should not be viewed merely as potential investors or sources of technical expertise. India’s own economic progress and expanding opportunities can create avenues for diaspora members to reconnect with the country and participate in its growth.

The forthcoming convention is expected to facilitate these conversations through discussions covering science and technology, innovation, women’s entrepreneurship and leadership, state-level diaspora partnerships, trade, investment, education and business.

Such sector-specific engagements can help move diaspora relations beyond periodic gatherings towards sustained institutional cooperation. Their value will ultimately depend on whether discussions lead to practical partnerships that continue after the convention concludes.

Taking Diaspora Engagement into the Digital Age

Another noteworthy announcement in Jaishankar’s address was the introduction of BharatVerse, a gamified and AI-enabled public diplomacy platform designed to connect India with global audiences through digital engagement.

The platform will host the PBD Special Bharat Ko Janiye Quiz, which will run for more than a month, with winners invited for a ten-day tour of India. Its wider activities are expected to include games, quizzes on important occasions, crosswords and other interactive experiences throughout the year.

The initiative recognises that younger generations engage with information and culture through digital platforms. Traditional cultural programmes remain valuable, but they need to be complemented by accessible forms of participation that can sustain interest beyond major events.

BharatVerse could provide a continuing channel through which younger overseas Indians explore Indian history, culture and contemporary developments. Its effectiveness will depend on whether the platform can generate sustained participation rather than temporary interest surrounding the convention.

The accompanying PBD website is also intended to simplify participation by providing a single-point platform for registration, accommodation bookings, programme details and logistical information. Together, these initiatives reflect an effort to make diaspora engagement more accessible and continuous.

Beyond the Convention: Building a Lasting Partnership

The 19th PBD Convention will begin with Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on January 7, organised in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The programme will provide younger members of the overseas Indian community with an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with their Indian counterparts and explore possibilities for collaboration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the main convention, while President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the valedictory session, during which the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards will be conferred. The participation of the country’s political leadership, alongside sector-specific discussions and youth engagement initiatives, reflects the importance attached to the gathering.

Jaishankar also referred to the growing interest among overseas Indians in attending the convention, drawing upon the enthusiasm he encountered during his recent visits to the United States and the Caribbean. Encouraging this participation will require active involvement from Indian missions, diplomatic posts abroad and diaspora organisations.

Ultimately, the significance of the forthcoming PBD will extend beyond three days of discussions and celebrations in Kolkata. A diaspora is actually a global community whose knowledge, experience and international networks deserve sustained engagement throughout the year.

India has an opportunity to build upon the legacy of generations who left its shores and established communities across the world. Their descendants have become part of societies far removed from their ancestral homeland, yet their connections with India continue to offer opportunities for closer cooperation.

The challenge is to give this historical relationship a contemporary purpose through stronger educational exchanges, research partnerships and economic collaboration. Heritage provides the foundation, but shared opportunities and meaningful participation will determine how the relationship develops in the years ahead.

Roots may survive across generations, but they need fresh nourishment to remain alive. The same holds true for India’s relationship with its overseas community. From Roots to Return is an invitation to bring the journeys of a global Indian community closer to the aspirations of a changing Bharat, transforming an inheritance of migration into a lasting partnership for the future.