From left to right: Chair of the British Council, Vernon Ellis; Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, Jawhar Sircar; Director, National Gallery of Modern Art, Dr. Rajeev Lochan; MP Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt

I’ve just returned from my first major trip with the British Council since becoming Chair at the end of March…and what a fascinating trip it was!

I was part of the delegation that accompanied Prime Minister David Cameron and five other cabinet ministers to India. This was an important statement of intent, illustrating that Britain is keen to take relations with India to a new level. As David Cameron pointed out, India has, for centuries, been closely linked to the UK, but, perhaps because of this, it is a relationship that has all too easily been taken for granted. In recent years, other nations have been keen to grow their links to this country, as it gets set to become one of the world’s greatest, economic powerhouses.

However, it wasn’t just an event for politicians. There were also many leading business people, as well as key representatives from the worlds of education, culture and sport – recognising that connections and relationships in these areas can do a huge amount to build enduring trust between the UK and India.
This is exactly the space in which the British Council operates so our leadership team in India were highly involved in these activities.

I will take away many memories. However, one of the most inspiring was witnessing the engagement between the cultural delegation (Neil Macgregor of the British Museum, Sir Mark Jones of the V&A and Dame Lynne Brindley of the British Library) and their Indian counterparts. On both sides there was great enthusiasm to strengthen the considerable amount of collaboration and education that already exists.

I was also impressed by discussions amongst the education leaders – we took along several Vice-Chancellors – during which it was agreed to extend the successful UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI). The programme has already created almost 600 new partnerships between UK and Indian institutions at all levels of the education system and now promises the exciting prospect of scaling up to an even greater level, using new media.

On the eve of the Commonwealth Games, we also saw programmes which will have huge reach and impact on young people. Some are sponsored by the English Premier League and some are part of International Inspirations, the programme which Sebastian Coe launched as part of the British Olympic bid (and which is led by the British Council). However, both use the power of sport to change the lives of young people. It was lovely to see the joy in children’s faces as they played and raced with Kelly Holmes, Sebastian Coe and our accompanying Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt. But the real impact comes through training the trainers and eventually touching the lives of millions of children.

The scale of this country is amazing. But so is the energy and initiative. And so was warmth of our welcome. I was very proud to witness at first hand the contributions that the British Council can make to building on this friendship and trust. Qualities which will underpin our longer-term commercial and political relationships

Vernon Ellis is Chair of the British Council.