BENGALURU: If anyone says that Bengaluru is not the epicentre of India-United Kingdom engagement in the South, I would like to challenge them on that, said British Deputy High Commissioner Chandru Iyer.
Speaking to TNIE a year after he assumed office, Iyer said, “Bengaluru is important in the UK-India relationship in terms of its contribution to all five streams of engagement between the two countries -- one the fifth largest economy in the world and the other the sixth largest. The five pillars are trade and investment, healthcare, defence and security, climate and sustainability and finally, the living bridge which is the people connect. In all these, Bengaluru’s contribution is significant.”
Iyer said that leading Indian investors in life sciences or key contributors to the UK economy in the form of jobs, are from Bengaluru, just as there are some big British bellwethers here. “There is much happening on the student engagement front, with many Indian students in the UK. Add to this the homegrown brand of MTR has opened two restaurants in London, I have to add that akki roti in MTR London is better than the akki roti here,” Iyer said.
Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswamy has his roots in Bengaluru, and five ministers and multiple delegations have visited the city, so there is a great UK-India connect. “We have given 1,60,000 student visas to Indians to study in the UK. We have over 950 Indian companies in the UK with an employee base of close to 2,00,000 people, generating over 50 billion pounds in revenue and paying over 1 billion pounds in tax.
Many businesses are focused on tech, with the likes of Infosys, Wipro, and also Microland and Happiest Minds. British brands with a big presence in Bengaluru are Diageo, Rolls Royce, GSK, Tesco -- the entire technology backbone of Tesco in the UK is run from Bengaluru,” Iyer said.
On everyone from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the Deputy High Commissioner being persons of Indian origin, Iyer said, “We are very proud of our Indian heritage and that starts with Prime Minister Sunak who likes his Indian sweets, including laddoos and barfis. I too love Indian sweets. He likes to celebrate Deepawali and that goes for the 1.6 million people of Indian origin who call UK their home.”