Panaji, Dec 1 (IANS) India is interested in diversifying the migration of its skilled workers from the Gulf region to European countries, a senior official of the overseas Indian affairs (OIA) ministry said Tuesday.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) conference on Management of Migratory Flows, conference chairman G. Gurucharan said: ‘We need to diversify our migration base, most of which is presently in the Gulf countries. We would like to see more skilled Indians to go Europe.’

Gurucharan, a joint secretary in the ministry, said the central government was already working towards this objective with a memorandum of understanding on labour mobility partnership being signed between India and Denmark earlier this year. The MoU, the first of its kind signed with any European nation, facilitates promotion of orderly migration of workers from India to meet the growing demand for skilled and trained workers in the Danish economy and prevent illegal/irregular migration.

Denmark has already started a ‘Work in Denmark’ centre in New Delhi to promote job opportunities in Denmark among Indians, he said. ‘We are looking at similar partnerships with other European countries like Sweden, France, the Netherlands and the European Union itself,’ Gurucharan said.

The official further said that India was looking at forming a framework of bilateral co-operation on these issues with other countries and facilitating direct recruitment of Indian skilled workers by prospective employers, thereby eliminating the role of job recruiters and middlemen.

The ASEM over the last 12 years has been the main multilateral channel for communication between Asia and Europe, strengthening interaction and mutual understanding between the two regions in the area of migration through the conference of the directors general of Immigration. A total of 30 delegates from 12 Asian countries and 30 delegates from 18 European countries are attending the 8th ASEM conference.