Portuguese PM to be chief guest at 14th Pravasi Bharatiya

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa will be the Chief Guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention to be held from January 7 to 9, 2017 in Bengaluru.
Announcing this, External Affairs Ministry said the Portuguese Prime Minister has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will participate in the inaugural session of the PBD Convention on January 8 and address the delegates.
While the Prime Minister will be the Chief Guest, Surinam Vice president Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin will be the Special Guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) to be held on January 7, 2017 in Bengaluru.

He will address the young overseas Indian delegates at the inaugural session of the Youth PBD, along with Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel, the ministry said in a release.
PBD is celebrated on January 9 every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India's freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.

The conventions, celebrated every year since 2003, provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities.