British minister asked about UK returning Kohinoor diamond to India. She said…
The 108-carat Kohinoor gem was given to Queen Victoria in 1849 by Maharajah Duleep Singh.
The United Kingdom is in talks with India to collaborate regarding shared access to the cultural artefacts, the country's secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lisa Nandy, said.
Nandy made the statement in response to a question about India's demand to return the Kohinoor diamond.
The 108-carat Kohinoor gem was given to Queen Victoria in 1849 by Maharajah Duleep Singh. It was worn by the Queen Mother on her crown in 1937.
"We have 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," Nandy told ANI news agency.
She also reaffirmed the United Kingdom's deepening partnership with India across the creative, cultural, and sporting sectors during her visit to Delhi.
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“....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,” Nandy told the news agency.
She further added: "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," she added."
On Friday, Nandy, who is leading a delegation from the UK to India, had signed a major new cultural cooperation agreement with minister for culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi.
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The UK-India Programme of Cultural Cooperation is aimed at enhancing two-way cultural exchanges through the arts and heritage and encouraging long-term partnerships between creative businesses and cultural institutions in both countries, according to PTI.
It will include the UK working with India to support best practices and expertise on heritage conservation, museum management and digitisation of collections.
Implementation of the new pact will involve the British Council in India and the Indian Ministry of Culture, with participation from major UK cultural institutions including Arts Council England, the British Library, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group and the V&A Museum.
