New Delhi, Jan. 11 : Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and senior Bharatiya Janata Party Leader Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday said that Persons of Indian Origin
(PIOs), Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and those residing in the country will have to work together to make India a front-line nation in the 21st century.

Speaking at a ceremony held to mark the 30th anniversary of Antar-Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad, a non-governmental organization, in the national capital, Advani said that the people with roots in India should be called ''Bharatvanshi'' (descendants of King Bharat) in place of People of Indian Origin.

“The term ''People of Indian Origin'' (PIO) is very "technical" and "bureaucratic"… it has a limited meaning, said Advani who added that the word “Bharatvanshi” reflected the true description of people with Indian roots settled abroad.

"NRIs are Bharatvasis like us -- people who live here," said Advani, who credited legal expert late L. M. Singhvi, who had headed a committee to look into the issue of PIOs during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule for originally coining the term.

L. K. Advani, whose family migrated from Karachi during the 1947 Partition of the country, claimed that the true potential of a person comes out when he is forcibly displaced.

"Had people not been displaced during Partition, they would not have been so successful today. Forcible displacement from roots brings out the true potential of person which helps him reach the top," he observed.

Advani conferred the 4th Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman to Human Services Trust, Mauritius for its role in helping the PIOs settled there. Trust’s president Prem Chand Bujhavan received the award. (ANI)