Newly elected British Indian members of Parliament gathered for a special “Indian Summer” celebration, as part of the South Asian Heritage Month, at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Room in the Palace of Westminster in London this week.
Organised by British Indian think tank 1928 Institute and City Sikhs, the event also marked the launch of the brand-new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on India – attracting several new British Indian MPs including co-chair Jeevun Sandher.
Lord Karan Bilimoria, co-chair of the India APPG, said: “The India APPG promotes the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the UK and India, focusing on key areas such as Trade and Investment, Education, Sustainable Development, Culture, Health, Science and Innovation, including Technology and AI, and Defence and Security, as well as enhancing the relationship between both countries’ parliaments and governments on a national and regional level; and also continuing to promote people to people links, including the living bridge between the people of Indian origin in the UK and India.”
The 1928 Institute will be the secretariat of the new APPG, which is made up of a broad range of cross-party MPs and peers. The new members include Gurinder Josan, Uma Kumaran, Kirith Entwhistle, Sojan Joseph, Mike Reader, Shivani Raja, Warinder Juss and James Asser. Veteran members involved are Baroness Sandy Verma (President), Bob Blackman, Nav Mishra, Mark Prichard, Lord Parekh, Lord Sahota, Baroness Owen, Lord Dholakia, Lord Desai, Lord Kamall, Lord Loomba, Lord Camoys, Lord Popat, Baroness Royall, Lord Sikka, among others.
Catherine West, Indo-Pacific Minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), welcomed the new APPG as a cross-party group that would drive the UK-India partnership forward from Parliament.
She said: “I was at India House talking about the digital projects that we want to work on together, which is helping people with really basic functions in their lives… These very fundamental elements that we share together not only enrich an economic partnership but are very much part of the people-to-people networks.
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“It's down to us as parliamentarians, as those who care deeply about this relationship, to help fill in that [UK-India collaboration] map and help us prioritise, because there's so much going on and within a five-year Parliament, we will need to prioritise.”
*Info: South Asian Heritage Month