New Delhi (PTI): Over two thousand delegates from all over the world will assemble in New York this July to discuss the challenges and opportunities being faced by minorities, dalit and other backward classes in India.

The conference, organised by American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI), would be chaired by Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan.

In a statement, Paswan said the conference would drew global attention on discrimination based on caste, gender and religion and deliberate on the means of their elimination.

Politicians, community leaders and intellectuals from India, US, Nepal, UK, Malaysia and Middle East will participate in the International Dalit-Minorities Convention scheduled to be held at Mariott-Long in New York from July four to six this year.

"This conference will attempt to highlight the problems faced by India's marginalised communities and seek practical solutions for it," AFMI president Ali Qureishi said in a statement.

"Its main focus will be educational empowerment and social justice for the suppressed communities," Qureishi added.