BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today sought to woo NRIs, asking them to do something for their native land, including by encouraging foreigners to visit India.
"Indians especially Gujaratis have a big presence in hotel industry abroad. If they can motivate people staying in their hotels to travel to Gujarat, India... Do nothing but help send 10 people to India. It will be a huge boost to tourism," he said addressing the NRIs at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here.
The Gujarat Chief Minister also urged them to use social media to keep in touch with their native places, saying it could be especially effective in connecting their next generations with their roots.
"Eveybody can't afford to spend lakhs of dollars in investing in India. But he can spend a few hundreds to do something worthy in his native village... You can use technoly to connect with your native land," he said.
Using the opportunity to advertise his leadership, Modi cited his government's thrust on building new cities and developing its 1600 km coastline, saying modern societies need "symbols" of change that can lead to further development.
"For us, urbanisation is an opportunity. We are building six new cities. Walk-to-work is the concept. Dholera, 80 km from Ahmedabad, will be bigger than Shanghai with all modern facilities," he said.
