Dinesh Patnaik arrived in London four months ago and has already spent some time as Acting High Commissioner here. As Deputy High Commissioner, he has clear goals for what he wants to do in the UK during his posting.
These are economic and political. On economic and commercial interests, he plans to concentrate on small and medium sized enterprises.
“It’s around BREXIT. The large companies already have the access and the knowledge of India, but the small companies need help, so I’m going to focus on the SMEs.
I will also research and talk to people how BREXIT affects Indian companies here. I want to help Indian companies better adjust to BREXIT.
On the political side, I want to make sure that all the people who are decision makers; MPs, bureaucrats, business people, politicians, people on the street; all understand where India comes from. When they think of India, they think of an IT power, a big democracy, a growing economy. But there are some negatives that come up because of vested interests, a lack of knowledge, and I want to remove that lack of knowledge.
I want to reach out and let people know what is happening.
If you have the two political and economic strands working strongly, then other strands; art, culture, defence, music, all fall together.
India and the UK should have the best relationship in the world but after 70 years, we are still talking about reaching that potential. My job is to take it to the next level and make it a stronger relationship.”
Background
Mr Dinesh Patnaik has a record representing Indian bilaterally and unilaterally.
His postings include the UN Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Beijing, China, and in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi looking after Western European countries. He also looked after the External Publicity Division. In the MEA, he had another stint overseeing India’s relations with African countries.
From 2007 to 2009, he served as Director (UNES)/Joint Secretary (UNES) overseeing works relating to the UN.
Ambassador Patnaik was Deputy Chief of Mission/Deputy Permanent Representative at the Indian Embassy in Vienna from 2009 to 2012, and India’s Ambassador to Cambodia from 2012 to 2015. Prior to London, Mr Patnaik was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco.
Ambassador Patnaik holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata, in addition to a Master’s degree in Advanced International Studies from the University of Vienna and Certificate in International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna.
Mr Patnaik speaks seven languages; English, French, German, Chinese, Oriya, Punjabi and Hindi.
Postings and Passions
Mr Patnaik says that he was initiated into diplomacy through the multilateral system. He cites Geneva, the UN, and being in Vienna at the International Atomic Energy Agency. His passions in this sphere were climate, aid, human rights, and social issues. At the UN, economic and social topics fired his imagination.
His postings in Bangladesh, China and now the UK create an impressive bilateral portfolio. His ambassadorships were significant.
“Cambodia has a huge Indian influence and Morocco is one of our biggest trading partners in North Africa. These are two countries with great links to India.
On China, he says that the relationship is being “well managed; that’s our job as diplomats. The relationship has its own ups and downs; anything that will happen between two large neighbours. Both sides need each other, both are developing countries, and both have great aspirations. We don’t want a situation where our aspirations clash and pull us back. In that sense there is directly no problem with China. Indirectly, there will always be problems between two big nations. There are always pin pricks, even between the UK and the US. See what a few parliamentarians here said about the President Elect. You don’t do a relationship based on pin pricks. You do a relationship based on what is common. China is one of our largest trading partners, a large amount of students cross back and forth, there is interaction at every level. There is common ground in the multilateral forum on climate change and human rights. We started the Asian Infrastructure Bank together; there’s an Indian at the head of the Asian Infrastructure bank in Shanghai today.”
The DHC says that his tenure in Bangladesh taught him that relations with that country are vibrant and vital. On the Russian Federation, he stated, “Russia will always be important to us. Having new friends does not mean you shed old friends. In politics you don’t have best friends, you have people with whom your interests align. A lot of people want us to be their best friend. We know who our friends are and who our enemies are.”
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“I want to reach out and let people know what is happening in India.” DHC Dinesh Patnaik.
