London: UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy joined in a moment’s silence as a gesture of respect and mourning for the innocent victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, as she expressed her “deepest sympathies” on behalf of the British government.
At a joint reception hosted by her department and the High Commission of India in London on Wednesday evening, Nandy began by acknowledging the “very difficult time” as the world absorbed the impact of the “appalling terror attacks”.
“The loss of innocent lives in such a brutal and senseless manner is a tragedy that transcends borders, and I want to offer our deepest condolences on behalf of the UK government to the families and to the victims and to offer our full support in their pursuit of justice and peace,” said Nandy.
“The relationship between India and the UK has always been strong and deep, and at times like this, friends matter. So, on behalf of all of us, as the Prime Minister [Keir Starmer] has already said, we offer our deepest sympathies and we stand united with you in grief,” she said.
As a precursor to her first official ministerial visit to India for the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai next week, the reception brought together artists and creative minds working across both countries as a celebration of the India-UK cultural partnership.
The British Indian minister reflected upon her very “personal” bond with India through her Calcutta-born father Dipak Nandy.
“I am deeply, deeply proud of my Indian heritage… As the daughter of a dad who was born and grew up in India, who made his home here in the UK, I really understand that it gives you a different perspective on the world. It gives you a different perspective on society. And I’ve always felt very much a global citizen with a deep, deep sense of connection to India, to Indian culture and to the Indian people,” said Nandy.
Pointing to the “living, breathing bridge” of artists such as Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar at the reception, the minister said in “film, fashion, literature, music and the arts, Britain and India lead the world, and together, we are formidable”.
The High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, opened the evening on a sombre note to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack.
“Thank you for your support and solidarity in paying tribute to the lives so tragically lost yesterday in a completely heinous act of terror in Kashmir,” said Doraiswami.
“It is an important point to reaffirm who we are, why we are doing the things we do, and how creativity and the creative arts offer us an escape and a response to people whose only initiative and incentive seems to be to find ways of using violence as the first recourse rather than the last,” he said.
“In a world in which increasingly things are fractious, the creative arts, so well represented in this room, are the best antidote we have to the hatred that often fills our minds,” he added.
The High Commissioner went on to lay out the landscape for the first WAVE Summit being held in Mumbai between May 1 and 4 to spotlight India as a global destination for content creation, collaboration and investment.
“The time is really now for India and the UK to look ahead on what the next generation of creativity could be… So, the Secretary of State’s visit to us is a huge opportunity to rediscover our partnership, to celebrate it afresh, and to have great fun in doing so,” he noted.
