Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who has an Indian origin, will be the chief guest at next year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the foremost conclave of the Indian diaspora, it has been announced. “Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal, has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to be the chief guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to be held from January 7 to 9, 2017, in Bengaluru,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “He will participate in the inaugural session of the PBD convention on January 8 and address the delegates,” it stated.

Costa, born in 1961 in Lisbon, is the son of writer Orlando da Costa, who was of Goan, Portuguese, and French descent. His mother was Maria Antonia Palla, a Portuguese journalist.

Costa took charge as Prime Minister in November 2015 creating media headlines in India.

The ministry statement also said that 36-year-old Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin, Vice President of the South American nation of Suriname, will be the special guest at the Youth PBD to be held on January 7 in Bengaluru. “He will address the young overseas Indian delegates at the inaugural session of the Youth PBD, along with Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel,” the statement added.

According to the Indian embassy in Paramaribo, over 230,000 people of Indian origin hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and some 50 Sindhi families live in Suriname.