00:00There is an Indian demand regarding the return of Kohinoor to India.
00:04Is there any kind of conversation happening between the two sides?
00:08We've been talking between the UK and India for quite some time
00:11to make sure that people both in the UK and in India can benefit from
00:16and have access to many of the cultural artefacts that stem back to the time, very different era.
00:23That's something that I've discussed with my counterpart.
00:26Welcome to India. This is your first visit to India in your current role.
00:30How has it been going and what are your upcoming meetings?
00:32Well, I'm here to attend the WAVES conference and also to sign a cultural cooperation agreement
00:37between the UK and India. It is very exciting for me to be here.
00:42Not only is this a very personal visit for me, I'm the first ever Labour Cabinet Minister of Indian Heritage,
00:48but it's been an absolute delight to be able to signal how much we want to work with India
00:55to celebrate the great successes in film and TV, sports, music, fashion of our great nations
01:02and to take that to the next level through greater collaboration.
01:05Ma'am, as you mentioned, during your India visit you have signed a bilateral cultural cooperation agreement.
01:11Can you talk to us more about that? How will it benefit both India and UK?
01:15How do you see India-UK cultural connection?
01:17Well, across the creative industries, the UK and India really excel, whether it's film, fashion, TV, music, gaming.
01:25We're really good at these things and we export many of those products to the world.
01:29But we know that by cooperating more closely we can do more and we can achieve more together.
01:35Our Science Museums Group has been working with the National Science Museums Group here
01:40to get joint collaborations, joint exhibitions, tour different objects,
01:46make sure that people in India and the UK can really benefit from that.
01:50And we think that's the model for how we can cooperate much more closely
01:54across all the other creative industries as well.
01:57India is known for its soft power in the world.
02:00How do you think this agreement will help grow Britain's soft power too?
02:04Well, we've always had a long, close and deep relationship with India and we're really proud of that.
02:10We have two million Indians in the United Kingdom and they are the living, breathing bridge between our two nations.
02:16In recent years we've already seen lots of cultural collaborations springing up.
02:21Recently Ed Sheeran collaborating with Dilip Dasanj and A.R. Rahman,
02:26which has brought a new vibrancy to the music industry.
02:29And we want to see more of that.
02:31We think that by working together, India and the UK can really be an exemplar
02:37of how you break down national boundaries and you work much more closely together
02:42and bring people together through the power of the creative industries.
02:46Right. Ma'am, you also had a meeting with India's external affairs minister,
02:49Dr. Asia Shankarandar's islands of the waves in Mumbai.
02:52How was that meeting and what was all discussed?
02:55We were very pleased to have a bilateral meeting to discuss how we can cooperate much more closely.
03:01Prime Minister Modi has signalled his personal commitment to taking what is already a huge Indian success story
03:08through film, fashion and their wider creative industries
03:12and really putting rocket boosters under them for the coming years.
03:16Our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, very much agrees with him.
03:20That is exactly what our UK government is trying to do.
03:24And we have a lot of ambition for what India and the UK can achieve together.
03:29Right. Ma'am, many popular Bollywood and Indian movies have been shot in the UK.
03:34You have also toured Yashrad Studios during your visit.
03:37How do you see more collaboration between India and UK's Indian film production in the future?
03:43When we toured Yashrad Studios yesterday, I was very keen to discuss how we could ensure
03:50that we have more Bollywood films filmed in location, not just in London, but all over the United Kingdom.
03:56But also how British companies can work very closely with Indian companies,
04:01with the new technology that's being developed that is really enhancing the cinematic experience.
04:06I want to see a cinematic revolution across the UK and India,
04:11with British and Indian companies collaborating to be able to take those films to the next level.
04:17Right. India will be hosting the Women's Cricket World Cup in October 2025.
04:22How forward are you looking at it?
04:23I'm very much looking forward to seeing India hosting the Women's Cricket World Cup.
04:28And I was delighted to meet some of the members of the India Women's Cricket team on my visit.
04:35They will be coming to the UK this summer with the men's team as well.
04:39And we are so looking forward to welcoming them.
04:41We think those young women will be a real inspiration to young women in the United Kingdom.
04:47And we hope, just like the Lionesses, our England football team in the UK,
04:52we hope that the Indian female cricket team will be able to come into schools and communities when they're here in the UK,
04:59so that they'll be able to inspire that next generation into cricket.
05:03Right. Ma'am, just a few days ago, India was attacked, the tourists were attacked,
05:11and you also joined in the Women's Silence as a gesture of respect for victims.
05:15What is the UK's position and what are your thoughts on this terrible attack that has happened?
05:20Our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was very pleased to be able to send his condolences directly to Prime Minister Modi
05:27and to send our condolences to the families of the victims of these appalling attacks.
05:34The UK stands with India against terrorism, always, in whatever form.
05:40We know the Indian nation is hurting because of those attacks,
05:43and our relationship with India is very long, is very deep.
05:47When you're hurting, we're hurting.
05:49And I was pleased to be able to join in that minute's silence
05:51to show our respect and our support for India's fight against terrorism.
05:56Just last question, ma'am.
05:58There is an Indian demand regarding the return of Kohinoor to India.
06:02Is there any kind of conversation happening between the two sides?
06:06We've been talking between the UK and India for quite some time
06:10about the way that we think we can collaborate much more closely together
06:15to make sure that people both in the UK and in India can benefit from
06:20and have access to many of the cultural artefacts that stem back to the time very different era.
06:27That's something that I've discussed with my counterpart.
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