So much to learn from India, says UK minister

LONDON: The UK has so much to learn from India, particularly in the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI) and space science, said a Cabinet minister in Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led government.

Addressing a Diwali celebration organised by the Labour Indian diaspora group here on Monday evening, UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall reiterated the party’s manifesto for the July general election committed to pursuing closer ties with India and a free trade agreement (FTA).

As a member of Parliament from Leicester West, a constituency closely associated with the British-Indian community, the minister said she remains determined to champion the India-UK relationship in the Labour government and her city.

“It was a very clear part of our manifesto that we want to build a new strategic relationship with India because we understand the vital relationship between our two great nations,” said Kendall.

“The links between our two countries are so important and that is why our prime minister has said that we will seek a new strategic relationship with India based on our shared values of democracy and aspirations, including a free trade (agreement), but also a new strategic partnership for global, climate, and economic security,” she said.

The minister pointed to David Lammy’s post-election visit to India within weeks of taking charge as the UK's Foreign Secretary during which he launched a new bilateral tech security partnership.

“There is so much we can learn from what India is doing, particularly in the sphere of AI, tech, space science and research, building the jobs of the future, the knowledge of the future, and spreading that opportunity to all… I am determined to champion this, not just within the government, but within my city,” she added.

The Diwali celebration attracted several newly elected British Indian MPs, including British Sikh Jas Athwal, Keralite Sojan Joseph, and Kanishka Narayan, the first Indian-origin MP from Wales.

“My goodness. The contribution the successive generations of Indians and British-Indians have made to our National Health Service (NHS); not just British-Indians but Indians who are coming over to contribute to our health and care services at every level of clinical leadership and senior management, to our life sciences and medical technology sector that is going to revolutionise how we deliver health and care in this century,” UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in his address.

“This Diwali, as we rebuild trust in politics and politicians, and rebuild the sense of politics as a force for good in society, you (British Indians) will help to not just kindle but to ignite the flame that has burned brightly in the proudest moments of our history that politics can be a force for good. That light can triumph over darkness,” he said.

British-Punjabi Immigration Minister in the Home Office, Seema Malhotra, concluded by reflecting upon the “pivotal” role played by the British-Indian community.

“At the heart of our economy, our British and Indian businesses working together, at the heart of our NHS, so many of our Indian diaspora community, our doctors, our nurses, and we have so much more to do, and that's why the partnership that we have between Britain and India that we celebrate alongside our important festivals is, for me, at the core of how we define our place in the world today,” she said.

Labour Indians, launched in the Parliament earlier this year by David Lammy, issued a call-out for the British-Indian community to pro-actively engage with its work to foster a closer bond between the governing party and India.