WASHINGTON - India plans to register the India Development Foundation in the US to put the agency tasked with rural development on a legal footing here, according to Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.

This would facilitate contributions to the foundation by people of Indian origin, he said at a gathering of the Indian American community here Wednesday asking them to join in the development of India.

“We look at the Indian community in America as friends, more than friends an important component in the development of India,” said Ravi who has already visited Chicago, Denver and Houston on a similar mission. After Washington he is set to go to New York.

Besides the IDF, his ministry has launched two other major initiatives to facilitate the participation of Indians abroad in India’s development by providing knowledge and resources.

Global-INK, the Global Indian Network of Knowledge, would connect institutions with institutions and individuals, he said. Gradually it would become a big network connecting the entire intellectual community in any part of the world.

Yet another initiative was the establishment of an Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre that would provide any information on investment in India, he said noting “Overseas Indians can play a very important role in providing knowledge and resources”.

Inviting the community to participate in the eighth Pravasi Divas Convention in New Delhi from Jan 7 to 9, he said there would be two special sessions on “Property related issues of overseas Indians” - an issue of major concern for Indians living abroad - and “nano technology”.

Acknowledging the Indian community’s help in mobilising support for the historic India-US civil nuclear deal, Ravi said back home it had created a political crisis, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government had come out of it stronger with the people’s verdict.

The deal would help India overcome the power crisis as India shifts from coal to atomic energy to generate a planned 77 million megawatt of electricity. Thanks to the nuclear deal, India had signed agreements with Britain, France, Russia and Germany.

Turning to the economic crisis, he said while the fact remains that anything that happens on the Wall Street affects the economy, India could survive the crisis thanks to its not controlled or captive, but regulated economy.

The resurgence of the Indian economy, he said reflected the confidence of the Indian public. “I have come here to invite you to associate with India’s economic achievements. We need your participation.”