Issues relating to youth will come under special focus at the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which will be inaugurated Friday by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A separate session will be held for this purpose during the deliberations, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters in Delhi on Thursday.

He said with the pace of India's economic progress, the country was becoming more and more attractive for NRIs and People of Indian origin (PIOs), particularly for those interested in setting up small and big industries back home.

Sinha replied in the negative on being asked whether any delegation from Pakistan would be participating at the conference. He said the conference was meant for NRIs and PIOs and the subcontinent was not included.

Nobel laureate V S Naipaul, eminent economist Lord Meghnad Desai, Lord Navnit Dholakia, and leading musician Zubin Mehta are among over 1000 participants from 61 countries for the second PBD, the first having been held a year back.

It provides a platform to bring together the Indian Diaspora and leverage the potential offered by the global Indian family.

Guyana President Bharat Jagdeo will be the chief guest. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani will also address the meeting on the theme 'India and the Diaspora: Vision 2020'.