The United Kingdom is negotiating with India to have joint access and derive benefits from historic artefacts such as the Kohinoor diamond, Britain’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy said. The enormous 105.6 carat gemstone–one of the world’s largest cut diamonds–was owned by Indian rulers prior to ending up in the possession of the East India Company from Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s treasury and then being gifted to Queen Victoria after the annexation of Punjab. It is still a symbol of British colonial plunder and imperialism.
New Agreement for Cultural Cooperation Signed
“We’ve been talking between the UK and India for quite some time about the way that we think we can collaborate much more closely together to make sure that people both in the UK and in India can benefit from and have access to many of the cultural artefacts that stem back to the very different era. This is something that I’ve discussed with my counterpart,” Ms Nandy, who is in New Delhi on an official visit, told news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Delhi | On any communication between India & UK on ‘Kohinoor’, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy says,” We’ve been talking between the UK and India for quite some time about the way that we think we can collaborate much more closely together… pic.twitter.com/Gn0ZPAjRBX
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2025
Emphasizing that the UK’s connection with India is “very long” and “very deep”, she asserted that the visit also saw the signing of a new agreement for cultural cooperation between the two countries.
Strengthening Creative Industry Ties
“Across the creative industries, the UK and India really excel, whether it’s film, fashion, TV, music, gaming. We’re really good at these things, and we export many of those products to the world, but we know that through cooperation, we can do more and we can achieve more together. Our Science museums group has been working with the National Museum Science Museums group here to get joint collaborations, joint exhibitions, tour different objects, make sure that people in India and the UK can really benefit from that. We think that’s the model for how we can cooperate much more closely across all the other creative industries as well,” Lisa Nandy said.
Support Against Terrorism and Deepening Ties
The British minister also met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar during her India visit. Talking about her meeting, she said, “We were very pleased to have a bilateral meeting to discuss how we can cooperate much more closely.”
“Prime Minister Modi has signalled his personal commitment to taking what is already a huge Indian success story through film, fashion, and their wider creative industries and really putting rocket boosters under them for the coming years. Our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, very much agrees with him. That is exactly what the UK government is trying to do, and we have a lot of ambition for what India and the UK can achieve together,” Lisa Nandy added.
She also condoled the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and said the United Kingdom stands with the people of India against terrorism.
“Our Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was very pleased to be able to send his condolences directly to Prime Minister Modi and to send our condolences to the families of the victims of these appalling attacks. The UK stands with India against terrorism, always in whatever form. We know the Indian nation is hurting because of those attacks, and our relationship with India is very long and very deep,” Ms Nandy said.
“When you’re hurting, we’re hurting, and I was pleased to be able to join in that minute’s silence to show our respect and our support for India’s fight against terrorism,” she added.
