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PM promises special department for NRIs in MEA

A separate department will be created within the Ministry of External Affairs to act as a link with non-resident Indians, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in New Delhi today.

He was interacting with a delegation of NRIs at his residence. Called 'Friends of India Society', the delegation included professionals and entrepreneurs settled in different parts of the United States.

Praising the efforts of India's ambassadors and NRIs during the period after the Pokhran blasts, Vajpayee said while NRIs were doing good work for their country, there was a need for a regular mechanism for better contacts.

To a suggestion about concrete steps to build NRI confidence in Indian economy , Vajpayee said that the economy had already undergone a lot of liberalisation and this process would continue.

He told the delegation that investment in small doses would also be welcome and would help the economy.

The delegation apprised the prime minister of a perceptible change for the better in the Indo-US relations which they said had taken place because of the efforts of his government, an official release said here today.

UNI

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