15th October 2012
No-one in India exemplifies ‘The Power of We’ more than Mahatma Gandhi, even over 60 years after his death. He sought to improve the conditions of the poorest and to lead one of the world’s first non-violent mass movements, first in South Africa and then in India. Hundreds of books have been written about his influence on […]
10th October 2011
Most Indians know that 2 October marks the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. That fact is less well known among UK staff in the Deputy High Commission, but they were aware enough when they joined about 700 others in a 10K walk or run at 7am to mark the date, and raise money […]
Read more on Footsteps4good – walking on Gandhi’s birthday for a Mumbai cause | Reply
28th June 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
On Thursday, I visited the Police Lines headquarters in Islamabad. I was accompanying the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who wanted to pay his respects to the fallen martyrs of the Pakistani police service and to publicly recognise their sacrifices in serving Pakistan and its citizens. Mr Hague laid a wreath at the police monument […]
3rd May 2011
The importance the British Government attaches to enhancing relations with India was underlined in March when Lord Green visited the country, including Mumbai. Lord Green has just weeks ago taken on the position of Minister of Trade and Investment, and his first official overseas visit was to India. Lord Green is well known to many […]
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20th April 2011
I made two visits recently to the State of Gujarat in Western India, both of which underline the enormous potential for UK companies in India, and the scale of developments here. At the end of March a team from our trade and investment operation in Mumbai travelled to Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, […]
Read more on 5m people, an economy growing at 11.5 per cent – Ingredients for a “second tier” city in India | Reply
7th March 2011 Ottawa, Canada
So we recently had a visitor in from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), a Mr. Robert Culshaw, the Deputy Director of BAS, to be precise. We (in collaboration with the British Council, WWF, the University of Ottawa, The Goethe Institute…) convinced Mr Culshaw to come to Ottawa to participate in a series of events that […]
Read more on The British Antarctic Survey, Robert Culshaw, and our second Science Salon! | Reply
27th January 2011
Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable and Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson and Peter Beckingham Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable, Cabinet Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, and Boris Johnson, The Mayor of London. They don’t […]
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10th December 2010
On Thursday 18 November forty people gathered pre-dawn at one of India’s most historic sites, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for many years. The occasion was the beginning of an India-UK Friendship Walk, which my wife Jill has organised with massive support from members of the Association of British Scholars in […]
Read more on Walking 358km in the footsteps of Gandhi | Reply
23rd November 2010
I had an opportunity to see and hear about some of the colossal opportunities and developments outside Mumbai, in the State of Madhya Pradesh. The State, which straddles the centre of India, remains one of the poorest areas of the country, with high figures for incidents of malnutrition among children and low levels of income […]
Read more on Diamonds in the offing, but no regalia for the Lord Mayor | Reply
19th November 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
This week in Islamabad, the Government of Pakistan and the international community came together for the first meeting of the Pakistan Development Forum in two years. Just over three months since Pakistan’s devastating monsoon floods, it was a chance for the Government of Pakistan and the international community to take stock of the challenges facing […]