Thursday, April 6 2006 12:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: India has urged the UN to evolve a non-discriminatory and orderly process for those migrating to other countries, permanently or for a short term, in search of livelihood or knowledge.

In his address to the UN Commission on Population and Development yesterday, Ambassador Ajai Malhotra cited India's experience and said migration needs to be considered a 'win-win' process for both host and recipient nations.

"The countries of origin can even benefit from the return of migrants if they bring back skills and capital," he said.

According to Malhotra, migrants can make best use of economic opportunities at home if international mobility is facilitated by both countries of origin and destination.

As far as 'brain drain is concerned, he said it could be translated into overall gain as India has successfully done.

India experienced large-scale emigration of workers in information technology and was yet able to replace skilled emigrants and create a thriving service export industry.

"This is largely due to emphasis in India on good quality education, especially higher education," he said.

Malhotra said that Indian immigrants have worked hard across the world to build the economies of host countries but their remittances also contributed significantly to economic empowerment of their families and communities back home.

Remittances to India increased from US$ 13 billion in 2001 to US$ 21.7 billion last year, he said.

"This surge in remittances to India, particularly following the IT revolution of the 1990s, has made it the highest remittance receiving country in the world," Malhotra said stressing the need for creating conditions so that money flows through formal channels.