At a joint reception hosted by her department and the High Commission of India in London on Wednesday evening, Nandy began by acknowledging the “very difficult time” as the world absorbed the impact of the “appalling terror attacks”.
“The relationship between India and the UK has always been strong and deep, and at times like this, friends matter. So, on behalf of all of us, as the Prime Minister [Keir Starmer] has already said, we offer our deepest sympathies and we stand united with you in grief,” she said.
As a precursor to her first official ministerial visit to India for the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai next week, the reception brought together artists and creative minds working across both countries as a celebration of the India-UK cultural partnership.
The British Indian minister reflected upon her very “personal” bond with India through her Calcutta-born father Dipak Nandy.
“I am deeply, deeply proud of my Indian heritage… As the daughter of a dad who was born and grew up in India, who made his home here in the UK, I really understand that it gives you a different perspective on the world. It gives you a different perspective on society. And I’ve always felt very much a global citizen with a deep, deep sense of connection to India, to Indian culture and to the Indian people,” said Nandy.
Pointing to the “living, breathing bridge” of artists such as Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar at the reception, the minister said in “film, fashion, literature, music and the arts, Britain and India lead the world, and together, we are formidable”.
The High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, opened the evening on a sombre note to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack.
“Thank you for your support and solidarity in paying tribute to the lives so tragically lost yesterday in a completely heinous act of terror in Kashmir,” said Doraiswami.
“It is an important point to reaffirm who we are, why we are doing the things we do, and how creativity and the creative arts offer us an escape and a response to people whose only initiative and incentive seems to be to find ways of using violence as the first recourse rather than the last,” he said.
“The time is really now for India and the UK to look ahead on what the next generation of creativity could be… So, the Secretary of State’s visit to us is a huge opportunity to rediscover our partnership, to celebrate it afresh, and to have great fun in doing so,” he noted.
