The government of India has decided to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the External Affairs Ministry in sync with its broad principle of minimum government, maximum governance. The proposal for merger was cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The decision has been taken to avoid duplicity in work of the two ministries and for better coordination between them.

About MOIA

• The MOIA was established in May 2004.
• It was first established with name of Ministry of Non-Resident Indians’ Affairs whereas it was renamed to Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in September 2004.
• The MOIA oversees the matters related to Persons of Indian Origin, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) or Indian Diaspora community.
• Until now, Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh were handling both Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Ministry of External Affairs since 2014.
• The primary task of the MOIA was to connect the Indian diaspora with its motherland.
• The Ministry initiated various programmes focusing on developing networks with and amongst the overseas Indians with the intent of building partnership with the diaspora.