“Indians who are citizens of Australia should always think of Australia as their country”

Shri Vayalar Ravi, Hon’ble Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Harnath Sithamraju unveiling the   Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

For the first time Sydney hosted a major event by the Government of India – the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Dignitaries and Ministers from India, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and various Pacific nations had attended and participated in the event giving it an international flavour.

Shri Vayalar Ravi Hon’ble Minister for Overseas Indians Affairs in the Govt. of India was the brain behind this event. India’s High Commisioner in Australia Shri Biren Nanda and his staff worked tirelessly to make this event a seamless experience and ensure its success. The event was held from November 10-12, 2013 at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour.

From India, Hon. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Mr Vayalar Ravi, Hon Minister for NORKA and Rural Development, Government of Kerala, Mr K.C. Joseph and Hon. Minister for Health and Protocol, Government of Maharashtra, Mr. Suresh Shetty graced the occasion.

From the Australian side, Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Hon Andrew Robb AO MP Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment, The Hon Barry O’Farrell, MP Premier of New South Wales, The Hon. Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia and The Hon. Jeff Seeney, MP,  Deputy Premier of Queensland participated in the conference.

On the first day the proceedings started with the traditional lighting of the lamp by Shri Vayalar Ravi and Mr Barry O’ Farrell.Welcome address was by HE Shri Biren Nanda, High Commissioner of India to Australia.

The proceedings in the morning were ably and professionally conducted by Smt Kumud Morani of SBS Radio. The morning session had speakers drawn from representatives of various Indian Institutions such as Dipen Rughani, National Chairman Australia India Business Council, Mr Shankar Vanavaryar, Co-Chair CII Family Business Sub Committee, T K Manoj Kumar, Jt. Secretary Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Shri K C Joseph Minister for NORKA,

Govt of Kerala, Sujata Sudershan CEO of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, SmtRaniGeorge Secretary NORKA, Govt of Kerala, Deepak Sharma from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dharmesh Desai from Yes Bank, Ankur Kumar Srivastava from Ezy Laws and others.

Shri Vayalar Ravi in his speech noted that the Indian Diaspora in Australia was growing both in numbers and influence andwanted them to involve and interact with India more deeply and in every field. He later released a Book “Mosaic of Faith”.

There were around 600 delegates at the conference.

Later the day  saw highlights from a group of performers taking the audience on a journey of 100 years of Indian cinema which contained a popular song from each decade of those years which captivated the audience. The programme was conducted by Smt  Aruna Chandrala who happened to be a former President of United India Association.

Highlight of the day was the drawing competition by 2 young artists namely Mili and Kushi who painted pictures in competition with a singer who sang a song while they painted and the challenge was that the respective paintings should finish at the conclusion of the song. Which they did to the great applause and appreciation from the audience.

The evening proceedings saw the Indian classical music legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma on the Santoor, give a scintillating performance and in the end was rewarded with a standing ovation from the audience and Ms. Meeta Pandit enthralled the audience with her masterful performance. The first day’s proceedings ended with a gala dinner where Hon’ble Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison, gave a speech in which he highlighted the important role being played by Indian Diaspora in Australia and the importance of India’s relations with Australia. Also Mr Jeyakumar Janakaraj, CEO of Adani Mining made a speech highlighting the Group’s activities in Queensland.

The second day of the event started of with the traditional lighting of the lamp and inaugural address by Premier of NSW Barry O’Farrell in which he said that the Indian community is now the fastest growing ethnic community in the state and the country, and Indian languages were becoming the biggest non-English languages spoken in the country with Hindi and Punjabi being taught in schools and colleges.

There was a speech by Andrew Robb Australian Minister for Trade and Investment, highlighting the cultural connections between the two countries including Cricket and the English language and acknowledged that these connections will promote stronger engagement with India.

Other notable speakers included Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, Former Prime Minister of Fiji.

The day also saw several presentations from various sponsors and organisations notably from GVK-Hancock Group whose presentation, highlighting the activities of the Group was held by Josh Euler, Manager Corporate Affairs.

Mr Jeyakumar Janakaraj from Adani Mining also held a press conference on his Group’s activities.

There was another interesting presentation by Dr Dinesh Srivastava from Melbourne on the Study of Hindi in Victoria. He traced his struggle to obtain recognition for Hindi as a subject in Schools in Australia, which he lamented has still not shown any growth but instead a declining trend among the Indian Community to learn the language.

The sessions on business opportunities in resources, education and skills, agriculture and infrastructure provided an opportunity for insightful understanding of the prospects for closer partnership between India and Australia.

Eminent speakers in the sessions on Indian Languages, Culture and Media were informative and drew appreciation from the delegates. Sessions on Honouring the success stories and women in business were filled with motivating accounts of the prominent members of Indian Diaspora in Australia who are leaders in their respective fields.

Day’s proceedings ended with a Bollywood touch which came in the presence of the promising Australian-Indian Actress Pallavi Sharda sharing her experiences in Bollywood which included acting opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Shiamak Davar group’s choreography of Bollywood songs at the Gala dinner, gave a musical finale to proceedings.

On the last day,the proceedings were hosted by Shri Neville Roach and at the conclusion ceremony there were speeches among others by Shri Suresh Shetty Minister in Govt of Maharashtra and K C Joseph, Minister in Govt of Kerala, Mr Trevor Rowe, Executive Chairman, Rothschilds Australia, Shri Nihal Gupta, Chairman of the NSW Govt, Multicultural Business Advisory Panel, Dr Marlene Kanga, National President of Engineers Australia.

Vote of  Thanks was provided by Shri Arun Kumar Goel, Consul General of India, Sydney and the closing address was by Shri Vayalar Ravi wherein he emphasised that the Indians who are citizens of Australia should always think of Australia as their country and any Indianness is a feeling and sentiment only. Vote of Thanks from Shri Biren Nanda, High Commissioner of India concluded the event.Concluding luncheon had Legendry Cricketer Steve Waugh speaking about his experiences in India, as a cricketer and now his involvement in philanthropic ventures.