Indore: Leaders from various nations on Saturday arrived at the airport in Madhya Pradesh's Indore to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention scheduled to be held from January 8-10. Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu arrived at the airport.

Mauritius Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage Avinash Teeluck arrived in Indore. Mauritius Member of the National Assembly Sanjit Kumar Nuckchreddy arrived at the airport in Indore to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention.

Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan and Meenakashi Lekhi arrived at the airport to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2023.

Earlier, Zaneta Mazcarenhas, Australian Member of Parliament (MP) also arrived in Indore. Mazcarenhas will be the guest of honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on Sunday which will be held in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi also arrived at the airport in Indore to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, Water Resources Minister Tulsi Silawat, and other officials received Santokhi at the airport. Chandrikapersad Santokhi is the special guest of honour at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention.

Meanwhile, Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram, Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mauritius, Renganaden Padayachy, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development of Mauritius.

Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, Minister of Health and Wellness of Mauritius too arrived here for attending the convention. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan arrived at the Indore airport.

Notably, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention scheduled to be held from January 8-10 provides an important platform to connect with overseas Indians and to enable the diaspora to interact with each other. The theme of PBD Convention 2023 is "Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal."

Over 3,500 diaspora members from 70 countries have registered for the Pravasi Bharatiya Convention (PBD) Convention. The PBD Convention will have five thematic Plenary sessions and all the plenary sessions will feature panel discussions, according to the press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

During the event, a Commemorative Postal Stamp 'Surakshit Jaayen, Prashikshit Jaayen' will be released to showcase the importance of legal, orderly, and skilled migration. A special town hall is scheduled to be held in view of India's ongoing presidency of the G20 on January 9, the Ministry of External Affairs said in the press release.

PM Modi will inaugurate the first-ever digital Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Exhibition on the theme "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - Contribution of Diaspora in Indian Freedom Struggle" to showcase the contribution of diaspora freedom fighters in India's Independence.

Notably, the PBD convention is being organised in person after a gap of four years and the first after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 16th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was conducted in a virtual format.