As the British general election campaign enters its final stages on Tuesday, British Indian community groups have called on the newly elected government to redefine its foreign policy priorities towards India.
The Indian Democracy Platform calls on members of the new UK Parliament to prioritise democracy and human rights in UK foreign policy towards India and to uphold democratic values in UK-India relations.
“The British government has a unique opportunity to rethink its foreign policy with India, aligning it with the values that British Indians hold dear,” said Raul Lai, coordinator of the Platform for Indian Democracy.
“By upholding human rights, democratic principles and ethical diplomacy, the UK can strengthen its relationship with India while upholding the ideals that both countries strive to achieve,” he said.
As Britain's largest ethnic minority group, British Indians wield significant influence in constituencies across the country.
The Indian Democracy Platform says the electoral influence of the British Indian community was evident in last year's Uxbridge by-election, where their decisive role secured a narrow victory for the Conservative Party.
This underlines the importance of political parties recognising the views of the people on how Britain should engage with India, its ancestral homeland, the group said.
Despite their impact on the UK, British Indians maintain close ties with India, with a recent survey revealing that more than half (58%) read news about India at least once a week and paid particular attention to the results of last month's Indian general election.
“A survey conducted by the Indian Democracy Platform in late 2023 found that 90% of respondents in the UK believe that human rights should be a condition of industrial and commercial investment in India,” noted the Democracy Platform, which was recently established to provide a space where progressive voices within the British Indian community can be amplified.
The Indian diaspora in the UK is estimated at around 1.8 million people and, although voters traditionally tend to vote for the Labour Party, the electorate showed a much more diverse voting pattern in the recent general election.
With Rishi Sunak leading the Conservative Party as the country's first British Indian prime minister, it remains to be seen how these diaspora voters will be swayed to vote on Thursday.
