Nara Lokesh. File
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Monday (August 18, 2025) and sought his support for collaborations with the Governments of Singapore and various other countries.
He also requested Mr. Jaishankar to help positioning Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) as a frontrunner in India’s global workforce vision. Mr. Lokesh apprised the Union Minister of the recent visit to Singapore by a high-level delegation of the Andhra Pradesh Government led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
He mentioned that A.P. has a vibrant diaspora of more than 3.50 million spread across 130 countries, including a million in the U.S., 8,00,000 in Gulf nations and 4,00,000 in Europe, and the per capita income of the Telugu people in the U.S. was $1,26,000, which was much higher than the American average of $70,000. “This was a testament to the accomplishments of the Telugu diaspora,” he said.
Mr. Lokesh also showcased Andhra Pradesh’s forward-looking initiatives to strengthen global skills and diaspora engagement. These include forging skill development and institutional partnerships with countries such as Russia and Australia through “twinning of institutions” and joint training programmes.
Further, Mr. Lokesh reiterated A.P.’s commitment to data-sharing and collaboration with the Centre to track labour market trends and overseas employment opportunities for its workforce.
He sought the Ministry of External Affairs ‘s support in extending welfare and protection schemes for migrant workers from Andhra Pradesh, including expanded access to insurance schemes such as Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana.
He pitched for Central assistance for setting up an AI Centre of Excellence and a Data City in Visakhapatnam.
Published – August 18, 2025 01:09 pm IST
