Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lit a lamp to inaugurate the 3rd Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2005, in Mumbai on Jan. 7. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Jagdish Tytler is seen second from right, while Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is on the right. Others in the photo were not identified. (Photo: Courtesy, Press Information Bureau)

Mumbai : India has decided to grant dual citizenship to all overseas Indians who migrated from the country after Jan. 26, 1950, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced on Jan. 7 as he urged them to come and invest in the country.

“I am happy to announce that we have decided to extend the facility of dual citizenship to all overseas Indian who migrated from India after Jan. 26, 1950, as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship under their local laws,” the prime minister said in his inaugural address to Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indian Diaspora Day) conference.

The prime minister’s announcement was greeted with loud applause by some 2,000 overseas Indians attending the three-day convention, many of whom have made a name for themselves in various walks of life in the countries of their adoption.

He regretted that though dual citizenship had been promised in the first two Pravasi Divas conferences in New Delhi, “little has happened to implement this declaration of intent.”

“I do hope that a day will come when every single overseas Indian who wishes to secure Indian citizenship will actually be able to do so,” Manmohan Singh said to sustained applause.

He promised to simplify the application forms and said a “user-friendly” form combining the three forms prescribed earlier had already been prepared and would be notified soon.

“Finally, we will simplify the format of the certificate of registration of overseas citizens of India. Various options, including the possibility of smart cards, are being considered. I hope the security, operational and other aspects of issuing this document will be completed soon.”

He said he had asked the ministries concerned to spell out the benefits of registering overseas citizenship so that there was clarity in the government’s policy.

This is the third conference being held to honor the 20 million-strong Indian diaspora spread across the globe and commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi, the original NRI, to the country from South Africa 90 years ago.

“Welcome home,” the prime minister told the gathering and noted that it was the first time the conference was being held in the nation’s financial and entertainment capital.

In coming to Mumbai this year, the conference had returned to the shore on which that ‘Great Pravasi,’ Gandhi, had arrived this week 90 years ago and whose memory the conference honors and celebrates, the prime minister said.

He noted that Indian immigrants had gone to many countries to seek livelihood or in search of knowledge, skills, training and professional opportunities.

He was happy that the economic policies the country had initiated in the past decade had enabled it “to connect with you more vigorously and engage you in meaningful ways in the reconstruction of our motherland.”

He said these policies had significantly contributed to the emergence of India as a major economic player. “Together with the tremendous strides our country has been making in the knowledge-based sector, there is no doubt that the 21st century will be an Indian century,” he added.

He assured the conference that the economic reforms process would be carried forward and extended to the administration and polity so that India’s latent potential is unchained.

“There is much that you can contribute, both through the inspiration of your example and through investment in our future.”

And he quoted economist Lord John Maynard Keynes to emphasize that investment is an act of faith. “I invite you to have faith in India. Our government is committed to renew the people’s faith in good governance and in a socially just and equitable process of development.

“We are committed to strengthening the sinews of our plural, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic democracy. We are committed to building ansociety and aneconomy, based on equitable foundations,” he added.