UK-India Week kick-starts in London with Young Leaders Forum

London: BJP Tamil Nadu state president K Annamalai, singer-songwriter Armaan Malik, London Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal and prominent entrepreneurs and professionals from India and the UK came together for a Young Leaders Forum in London, which kick-started UK-India Week 2023.

The annual event, organised by UK-headquartered India Global Forum (IGF) to bring together senior ministers, policymakers and business chiefs to explore bilateral ties across all spheres of collaboration over the course of six days, opened with the theme of “Empowering Future Changemakers” on Saturday.

The student-led gathering at the Nehru Centre in London covered topics ranging from Western media perceptions of Indian democracy and prospects of dual citizenship for the Indian diaspora to employment opportunities in an artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.

“Democracy is heavily intertwined in our DNA,” said Annamalai, in response to a question about perceptions of Indian democracy in the West.

“Indian politics operates in an Indian way, to evaluate with a Western lens will naturally fail… If anyone wants to protest in India, they can block a highway for nine months. That is how deep our democracy is. We allow our protesters to do that, even Britain does not,” he said.

“If someone thinks dual citizenship isn't possible, I'll say wait for another few years. We are open to listening to you, we will listen to you," said the BJP leader, in response to another question.

Singer-songwriter Armaan Malik, behind several chart-toppers in Bollywood, was asked about the role he sees AI playing in his field.

“I think we are at a stage in music where we really don't know what all AI has in store… I just feel like it shouldn't replace the whole art of songwriting,” said the singer.

Fellow singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Ananya Birla, daughter of prominent Indian industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, spoke of her motivation behind setting up a microfinance initiative.

“Having an impact on this world beyond the economic gain is important to the youth… I felt guilty that my family that had money could access money easily from banks, but people who really needed money couldn’t access it because they didn’t have physical collateral,” said the founder of Svatantra Microfin, which provides microfinance to women entrepreneurs in rural India.

Designed to bring together the next generation of leaders and youth leaders, the Forum also heard from the Indore-born Deputy Mayor of London who shared his journey as a fintech entrepreneur in the “greatest city in the world”.

“As Deputy Mayor, I want to strengthen the relationship between our two great nations, the UK and India, through what Prime Minister Modi describes as the living bridge community. When I first took over this role seven years ago, India was the fourth-largest investor in London, and last year, India was the largest investor in London,” said Rajesh Agrawal.

The Forum also marked the launch of a new Young Leaders Fellowship Programme open to students to gain work experience within the UK-India corridor.

“The future belongs to those who are determined to make a difference, and this fellowship serves as a stepping-stone for our youngsters to become catalysts of progress,” said Professor Manoj Ladwa, Founder & Chair of India Global Forum.

On Monday, the UK-India Week will centre around Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer setting out his party’s vision for the bilateral relationship, followed by a UK-India Infrastructure Summit hosted by the Lord Mayor of London Alderman Nicholas Lyons on Tuesday.