On January Seventh2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended the facility of dual citizenship to all overseas Indians who migrated from the country after Jan 26, 1950. Earlier, it was limited to Indians based in certain countries. The Prime Minister announced this in his inaugural address to Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indian Diaspora Day) conference.

The prime minister's announcement was greeted with loud applause by some 2,000 overseas Indians attending the three-day convention, many of whom have made a name for themselves in various walks of life in the countries of their adoption. He promised to simplify the application forms and said a "user-friendly" form combining the three forms prescribed earlier had already been prepared and would be notified soon. This is the third conference being held to honour the 20 million-strong Indian diaspora spread across the globe and commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi, the original NRI, to the country from South Africa 90 years ago.