British Indian Minister Lisa Nandy Signs India-UK Cultural Agreement During Visit to Delhi.
MOUs and Agreement
The United Kingdom (UK)'s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, paid a three-day official visit to India from May 1 to 3, 2025, to strengthen cultural ties and foster collaboration between the UK and India across various creative sectors.
- During her visit, she signed a cultural cooperation agreement with Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who heads the Ministry of Culture (MoC) and Ministry of Tourism (MoT), at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi (Delhi).
- During her India visit, Lisa Nandy also held a bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- The UK-India Programme of Cultural Cooperation is designed to enhance bilateral cultural exchanges through arts and heritage, and to foster long-term partnerships between creative businesses and cultural institutions in both countries. This initiative reflects a shared commitment to deepening cultural understanding and collaboration.
Main Point :- (i) Under the newly signed agreement, the UK will collaborate closely with India to support best practices and share expertise in heritage conservation, museum management, and digitisation of collections. The agreement will be jointly implemented by key entities such as the British Council in India and the Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India (GoI).
(ii) Additionally, major UK-based cultural institutions—including Arts Council England, the British Library, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group, and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum—will actively participate in the implementation of this partnership to broaden cultural engagement.
(iii) A key objective of the agreement is to make South Asian manuscript knowledge more widely accessible, protect cultural property, and combat the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts. The pact also opens new avenues for British museums to engage the Indian diaspora in the UK through collaborative exhibitions and public programmes.
About the United Kingdom (UK)
Prime Minister (PM) : Keir Starmer
Capital : London
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