Narendra Modi on Sunday praised Indians living abroad and thanked them for supporting the government’s war on corruption and black money. Speaking in Bengaluru at the 14th Pravasi Bharati Divas, a massive gathering of Indians living abroad, he said that corruption and black money had been “corroding our system from within”. “India needed to take a stand and so we have.”

He also thanked the Indian diaspora for their economic contributions to India and said, “Remittance of close to 69 billion dollars annually by overseas Indians makes an invaluable contribution to the Indian economy”. He called the community a “valuable partner in our journey of development” and said his objective was to turn India’s brain drain into a “brain gain”.

Modi also said that engagement with the Indian diaspora abroad is a priority for him and his government. He said protection of these communities was also his government’s priority. “We have taken several measures to protect Indian immigrants…We are also taking strict actions against illegal immigrants.”

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa was the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharati Divas, while Suriname Vice President Michael Ashwin Adhin was the special guest. At the event, Prime Minister Modi also urged the Indian population abroad to convert their People of Indian Origin cards to Overseas Indian Citizens cards.

Modi’s comments come exactly two months after he announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The notes made up 86% of the country’s liquidity at the time, leading to a nationwide cash crunch for which Opposition parties criticised the central government. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also defended the decision on Sunday.