Greater Manchester welcomes India's High Commissioner to the UK, in his first visit outside of London

Local Civic and business leaders welcomed His Excellency, Vikram Doraiswami India High Commissioner in the UK, to Greater Manchester on Friday 13th January, for meetings to highlight and celebrate the importance of India to the city-region and explore opportunities for future partnership.
The visit was delivered by the Manchester India Partnership - an award-winning organisation established in 2018 by the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership – and Greater Manchester’s inward investment agency, MIDAS, to bring together businesses, universities, and the public sector to develop a strategic approach to engaging India, in collaboration with the Department for International Trade.
The country’s initiatives in key sectors such as Cyber, eCommerce, Low Carbon and Health Innovation align closely with GM's strengths in these areas; creating huge opportunities for mutually beneficial investment, innovation and job creation.
Whilst in the city region, Mr Doraiswami visited The University of Manchester and the National Graphene Institute to learn more about the institution's R&D activity in India and the University’s growing Indian student population.
The High Commissioner also met with local MPs, Indian businesses and organisations in the area, including Welspun, one of India's fastest-growing global conglomerates based in Stockport.
Doraiswami was also introduced to the team at The Manchester Museum, set to reopen next month with a brand-new South Asia gallery that will showcase Greater Manchester’s diverse cultural environment and the strong historical links the city-region shares with India.
Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham said, “It was a real honour to welcome the Indian High Commissioner in the UK to Greater Manchester. India is a key partner for our city region and the range of businesses and institutions we met with reflect the strength and significance of our relationship. Just last year the Manchester-India Partnership launched a refreshed strategy which sets out how we plan to develop the relationship further, building on shared ambitions around trade, investment, education and tourism. The Partnership will continue to play a pivotal role as we look forward to strengthening ties with India.”
Manchester India Partnership Chair, Simon Arora said, “India is a priority FDI and trade market for Greater Manchester and we are committed to maintaining and growing this relationship. It was an honour to welcome Mr Vikram Doraiswami to the city region to share ideas and opportunities for mutual growth and prosperity; we look forward to the future of this partnership.”
In September 2022, The Manchester India Partnership (MIP) launched a refreshed strategy to harness the power of its high-level networks in the UK and India.