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India is deeply committed to strengthening its bond with the diaspora and attending to its needs, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday during the reception of the Indian Community in the Netherlands.
He said that India's engagement and outreach to the Indian diaspora have grown manifold in the past few years. "We have taken several initiatives under the maxim of 4Cs - Care, Connect, Celebrate and Contribute. The Overseas Citizen of India cards has been issued to give status and privileges in many areas. Travel to India has been facilitated through the issuance of long-term visas and E-visa. To increase the participation of the diaspora youth and familiarize them with Indian youth and their Indian roots, we started the Know India Programme and Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children for the children of Persons of Indian Origin to join Indian universities for higher education. We would like you to avail these initiatives and actively participate in them," he said. The President underlined that the safety, security, welfare and well-being of Indian citizens in all parts of the world is a priority for India. "In every corner of the world, over the last two years, the Government has made special efforts to enable our citizens to return home during the worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic by undertaking the 'Vande Bharat' mission. Recently, Operation Ganga brought back more than 22,000 Indian citizens, largely students, who were stranded in the conflict zone in Ukraine. As the Prime Minister said, humanity was at the core of Operation Ganga, not the colour of passport," he said. The President told the Indian community members present in the audience that he is delighted to be in the Netherlands amongst them. "It is a great pleasure for me to meet and greet our brothers and sisters in the Netherlands and connect in person with you. I thank you all for welcoming me with such warmth and affection." President Kovind stated that his state visit to the Netherlands marks an important milestone as India celebrates the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Netherlands this year. "One may take an Indian out of India but not India out of an Indian. I told those entrepreneurs that you live anywhere in the world but don't forget your roots in India. While in the last hundreds of years, many Indians travelled abroad, India has always kept beating in their hearts. And proudly, they kept alive Indian civilizational values in whichever part of the world they settled in," he said and added that he is not surprised that wherever the people of Indian origin settled, they adapted to that place as their home and fully integrated with it. Kovind told the attendees that they are the representatives of a multi-ethnic, diverse and well-respected Indian community in the Netherlands. "Today, the Indian community in the Netherlands is the largest Indian origin diaspora in mainland Europe with more than 200,000 members of Hindustani-Surinami community and more than 60,000 Indian professionals and students." President Kovind added the Indian community is the most important pillar of growing India-Netherlands bilateral relations and serves as a bridge between not just India and the Netherlands, but between India and Europe. (ANI)
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