Inaugurating the international convention of the `Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin' here on Saturday, the Prime Minister said the Indian diaspora has made seminal contributions to the development of many sectors of the new economy across the world. "They can now play a vital role by making a similar contribution to India in these sectors."

In his address, finance minister Yashwant Sinha urged the PIOs and NRIs to increase their contribution through foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country. He pointed out that the overseas Chinese contribute more than 85 per cent of the total FDI inflow into China. However, in the case of the PIOs, the figure was just about 20 per cent, he averred.

Mr Sinha also said fresh investment opportunities were unfolding, especially in the context of launching of the second-generation reforms, adding there is hardly a sector that the government has not opened up on favourable terms for the NRIs. He also lauded the efforts of the overseas Indians in responding favourably to the Resurgent India Bonds (RIBs) and India Millennium Bonds (IMDs).

The Prime Minister assured the overseas Indians that his government will provide all help to them in maintaining cultural identity, even while encouraging political commitment to their adopted countries.

Mr Vajpayee said the high-level committee, set up recently on the Indian diaspora headed by Mr LM Singhvi, would recommend measures to resolve the difficulties being faced by them.

The committee has been asked to study the role that the overseas Indians can play in the economic, social and technological progress of the country. It has also been asked to examine the current regime that governs their travel and stay in the country as also their investment in their motherland's economy.

Referring to the Fiji crisis, Mr Vajpayee said New Delhi has, "watched with distress the overthrow of a democratically-elected government in Fiji and a series of subsequent actions that have hit the people of Indian origin there, and more particularly, the poorer among them."

He said there are over 20 million PIOs spread over almost every corner of the world.

The success stories of Indian entrepreneurs abroad are legendary. From hi-tech chip laboratories to curry restaurants, renowned hospitals, famous educational institutions and well-known research centres, besides leading thinktanks, one would find an Indian who has overcome all odds to establish himself through skill, dedication and hardwork, he said.

Mr Vajpayee said today India stands on the threshold of a technological revolution in many areas that define the new economy of the new century such as IT, agriculture, space and energy. He reminded the PIOs and NRIs that many of them owed their current success to the quality education they received back in home, that too in government-run institutions like the IITs, IIMs or medical colleges. Speaking on the ocassion, Mauritius foreign minister Anil Kumar Singh Gayan said his country will support the New Delhi's candidature in the expanded UN Security Council. India's inclusion in the Security Council will enable it to play a more pro-active role in the world affairs, he added.