London: Priti Patel is Britain’s senior-most Indian-origin minister and is the driving force for the Indian PM’s visit to his 28th foreign country, (He is likely to visit Ireland on the way to the US east coast in September) in his fifteen month tenure.
She said that it will be a chance to take their “special relationship into the modern context”. His visit will be at the auspicious time of Diwali, which with its large Indian population, is bound to be a hit. The visit is likely between November 12 and 14 as British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Indian Diaspora Champion.
Patel told PTI, “It is such a special and auspicious occasion for all Indians and the fact that we have the Prime Minister of India coming to the UK at that auspicious time to be among the largest Indian Diaspora communities in the world will absolutely make this a very exciting celebration and a very important illustration of the strength of the relationship of our two great nations”.
“I am thrilled to be involved in supporting the official visit and also being involved in the community event at Wembley Stadium (November 13). We have an enormous, very successful Indian Diaspora in the UK. I think they are absolutely at the heart of this visit. It will be a tremendous celebration of the UK-Indian Diaspora,” she added.
Patel, who took charge as employment minister in the Cameron-led Cabinet after the May elections, said the visit would be a chance for the two countries to take their “special relationship into the modern context in terms of supporting Prime Minister Modi’s vision of economic development”.
“India as a global leader stands tall in the world and we can support India’s global aspirations, whether it’s on employment, on investment or on trade. As two nations we stand together, shoulder to shoulder to meet those shared objectives,” she said.
The Conservative party MP from Witham constituency in the north east of London returned from Turkey this week after her first G20 summit as minister of state for employment.
Among her meetings included a bilateral with her Indian counterpart Bandaru Dattatreya and they collectively signed a pledge to bring down the number of young people “Not in Education, Employment or Training”, or NEETs, by 15 per cent.
