Prime Minister David Cameron's Indian Diaspora Champion, MP Priti Patel, the Minister of State and Employment has said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK in November will give India and UK 'an opportunity to take their relationship into the modern context'.
Ms Patel will be the driving force during PM Modi's much anticipated visit between November 12-14. Speaking to PTI exclusively, she said that PM Modi's visit during Diwali will be one of biggest celebration in the UK, especially for the diaspora.
The Europe India Forum (EIF) has announced that it will be hosting a reception in honour of the Indian Prime Minister that will be attended by over 70,000 people. It will be the largest reception in foreign head of government has ever received in the UK or anywhere outside India. The reception themed “Two Great Nations, One Glorious Future.” will kick off with a specially produced cultural show featuring some of the very best British Indian artists.
Speaking about this upcoming event, Ms Patel said, “It is such a special and auspicious occasion for all Indians and the fact that we have the Prime Minister of India coming to the UK at that auspicious time to be among the largest Indian Diaspora communities in the world will absolutely make this a very exciting celebration and a very important illustration of the strength of the relationship of our two great nations.”
“I am thrilled to be involved in supporting the official visit and also being involved in the community event at Wembley Stadium (November 13). We have an enormous, very successful Indian Diaspora in the UK. I think they are absolutely at the heart of this visit. It will be a tremendous celebration of the UK-Indian Diaspora,” she added.
“India as a global leader stands tall in the world and we can support India’s global aspirations, whether it’s on employment, on investment or on trade. As two nations we stand together, shoulder to shoulder to meet those shared objectives,” she said.
The Conservative party MP from Witham just returned from Turkey this week after her first G20 summit. Among her meetings included a bilateral with her Indian counterpart Bandaru Dattatreya and they collectively signed a pledge to bring down the number of young people “Not in Education, Employment or Training”, or NEETs, by 15 per cent.
She explained, “As we have the PM of India coming later this year, we wanted to build a dialogue at the G20 which will facilitate growth and investment in India. There is no doubt when it comes to Make in India, we absolutely are there to support the Indian government.
“Central to that is skills, training and education and we can support India in investing in people. So we see this as a natural collaboration, a natural partnership.”
The event website www.ukwelcomesmodi.org and the twitter handle is @ukwelcomesmodi. For more information or frequently asked questions one can go to www.ukwelcomesmodi.org/faq.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Lord Maude, Minister of State for Trade and Investment visiting India
Prior to PM Modi's travel to India, Business Secretary Sajid Javid is making a trip to India on 11 September along with Lord Francis Maude, Britain's minister of state for trade and investment, who will visit Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi between September 8-11 September.
The ministers will be part of the India-UK Business Convention in Delhi, a gathering of major British and Indian CEOs including some of the top investors in India. In New Delhi, the minister will deliver the keynote address to the UK-India Business Convention extending his support for trade and investment between the two countries.
The ministers will release a landmark report which shows that UK has become the largest investor in India among all G20 countries with a combined revenue of more than $54 billion in India.
Between the year 2000 and 2015, UK's foreign direct investment (FDI) to India amounts to $22 billion - 9% of all FDI in the country.
As India's largest employer, UK companies currently employ around 691,000 people across the country - 5.5% of total organised private sector jobs in the country.
An official statement said, "Lord Maude will focus on deepening these commercial ties between the two countries and will highlight how the UK's unique offer to India compliments Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aspirations for India."
After his stay in Bengaluru, Lord Maude will move to Mumbai where will meet key existing and potential investors in the UK, from Cyrus Mistry of Tata Sons, the UK's largest manufacturing employer, to new UK investor Indiabulls' Sameer Gehlaut. He will also visit Indian pharmaceutical giant Cipla's laboratory facility and deliver a lecture at IIT Bombay to students and start-ups on innovation and entrepreneurship. Cipla is founded by Khwaja Abdul Hamied and is chaired by his son Indian scientist Yusuf Hamied.
Cambridge educated Hamied is best known outside India for defying large Western pharmaceutical companies in order to provide generic aids drugs and treatments for other ailments primarily affecting people in poor countries. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Indian government in 2005.
Lord Maude will also unveil a limited edition portrait of Queen Elizabeth II taken by renowned British photographer David Bailey as part of the celebrations to commemorate the longest reign by a British Monarch.
The Minister will also strike a gold coin in the Royal Mint factory outside Delhi to highlight high-tech, high-value collaborative manufacturing between the UK and India.
