India 2018

India and the World 327
Economic Diplomacy
Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) economic engagement worldwide through
its missions / posts created opportunities for the country's investors,
entrepreneurs, workers and consumers, while also serving the nation's economic
objectives.
With a view to make India a venue for major international conferences
and to promote dialogues between think-tanks in India and other countries, a
number of initiatives were progressed and many new activities organised. The
notable ones include organisation of second Raisina Dialogue in January 2017;
Gateway of India dialogue in March 2016 and February 2017; the 1st India-
China Think Tank Forum in December 2016; the India Ocean Conference in
Singapore in September 2016 and August 2017; India-US Forum in August 2017,
and India-Russia Heads of Think Tank meeting.
Consular, Passports and Visas
Up to April 2016, there are about 27 million overseas Indians spread over 146
countries across the globe. Out of these, approximately 11.4 million are Indian
passport holders. The vast majority of these Indian nationals are temporary
migrants, including women workers and 90 per cent of them work in the Gulf
region. Besides the above, Consular Section also deals with cases of arrest and
deaths of foreigners in India, including provision of consular access to prisoners
for foreign diplomats in India. The Section also coordinates with the Ministry
of Home Affairs regarding the welfare of Indian nationals abroad. Consular
Section also provides assistance to the general public in finding out the
whereabouts and welfare of missing Indian nationals. Issues relating to adoption
of Indian children by Persons of Indian Origin, payment of salary dues and
death compensation to the families of deceased Indian workers, liaison with
the Ministry of Shipping regarding arrest of Indian crew members and Indian
vessels, cases of marriage and divorce of Indian nationals under Foreign
Marriage Act, 1969, registration of births and deaths of Indian nationals abroad,
etc are also being looked after by the Consular Section. Indian Missions/Posts
abroad advise and guide the Indian community in an impartial manner in a
variety of matters affecting the existence of the community as a whole.
In recent years, the issuance of passports has emerged as the most
noticeable statutory and citizen service rendered by the Ministry of External
Affairs. Accordingly, the Ministry has made many quantitative and qualitative
improvements in the delivery of passport services in the country. Indian
passports [together with other travel documents such as Identity Certificates
(IC) for Tibetan refugees, Emergency Certificates (EC) for return to India, Police
Clearance Certificates (PCC) and Line of Control (LoC) Travel Permits in Jammu
and Kashmir] are issued by the Ministry. For Indians living abroad, passports,
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, EC and other miscellaneous consular
services, apart from attestation of consular documents, are being rendered by
the 184 Indian Missions/Posts abroad.