From Aditi Khanna
London

UK’s Indian-origin employment minister Priti Patel will open a new British Deputy High Commission in Ahmedabad tomorrow as she embarked on a three-day India tour.

Patel, who will be covering Ahmedabad, Kolkata and New Delhi during her visit this week, described the opening of the new mission as a “historic event”.

“In terms of our overseas and international footprint, the UK’s largest diplomatic network in the world is in India,” she said.

“This mission is the one that everyone has been waiting for and, importantly, I think it brings closer that Gujarati link and relationship back to the UK,” the Gujarati-origin minister told PTI before she left for India today.

“I recall from my own travels to Gujarat as a child when there was no mission there despite such a huge Gujarati community here in the UK. Now with the new direct flight connecting the UK and the state, this marks a new landmark for Gujaratis in the UK,” she said.

Patel, who also serves as British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Indian Diaspora Champion, felt her visit was a timely follow up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK last November.

“We had a momentous year last year when we had the privilege to host Prime Minister Modi. During my visit, I hope to cover as many bases as I can and build upon the foundations put down by the two Prime Ministers back in November,” she said.

From Ahmedabad, Patel will be flying to Kolkata to address the Bengal Global Business Summit and participate in a roundtable discussion with UK businesses and Indian business partners.

She will be meeting West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who she praised for her “energy, personal commitment and vision”.

“When the chief minister came to London last year she spoke with great passion and great enthusiasm about her commitment and vision and at the same time she was pitching to us to the UK government and British businesses to say come and invest in West Bengal and be our partner of choice in transforming the economic fortunes of her state,” Patel said.

“Prime Minister Cameron has been very clear about his own enthusiasm to work with her and do more in West Bengal. We are absolutely energised and highly motivated to go out there and showcase British opportunities. As a result of this summit, other states will also get attracted to what Britain has to offer,” she said.

The summit on Friday will be followed by a visit to New Delhi, where Patel has a wide range of business and ministerial meetings scheduled, including with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and minister of state for commerce Nirmala Sitharaman.

On Saturday, she will also witness the signing of the UK-India Skills Pledge to “boost job opportunities for the next generation”.

“We are the partner of choice in this area, we will be the ones leading this and supporting Prime Minister Modi in supporting skills, youth development and helping them secure employment opportunities in the future. And the pledge will be the catalyst for that,” Patel said. PTI