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January 6, 2009
New Delhi

PM's Global Advisory Council constituted

The Government has constituted the Prime Minister's Global Advisory Council in pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the Parvasiya Bharatiya Divas in January 2008 in New Delhi. The Prime Minister's Global Advisory Council is based on the idea that highly skilled overseas Indian Community represents a vast untapped resource that can be harnessed as an input into national development processes in India.

The Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Its members will include External Affairs Minister, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, senior designated officials from the Government of India, and the following prominent Overseas Indians who have accepted Prime Minister's invitation to be members:

1) Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati

2) Sh. Karan F. Bilmoria

3) Sh. Swadesh Chatterjee

4) Ms. Ela Gandhi

5) Sh. Rajat Gupta

6) Dr. Renu Khator

7) Lord Khalid Hameed

8) Sh. Kishore Mahbubani

9) Sh. L.N.Mittal

10) Sh. PNC Menon

11) Ms. Indra K. Nooyi

12) Shri Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh

13) Prof. C.K. Prahlad

14) Tan Sri Dato' Ajit Singh

15) Dr. Amartya Kr. Sen

16) Sh. Vikram Pandit

17) Sh. Sam Pitroda

18) Sh. Shashi Tharoor

19) Prof. Srinivasa SR Varadhan

20) Sh. Yusuf Ali, M.A.

The Council will serve as institutionalized dialogue mechanism between the diaspora community and the highest levels of Government.

The Council will advise Government on how to facilitate a dynamic two-way engagement between stakeholders in India and the Overseas Indian community. It will specifically focus on the promotion of business-to-business partnerships, creating appropriate institutional mechanisms that can leverage knowledge, skills and expertise possessed by the Overseas Indian community for socio-economic development processes in the country, and channelizing the substantial Overseas Indian philanthropic efforts in India into priority areas of development like poverty alleviation, education and health care.