UK to honour Indian students and alumni achievers

The United Kingdom will honour 75 Indian students and alumni for excellence in education, professional achievement and making immense contribution to society, to mark 75 years of India’s independence. This was announced on Wednesday, at an exclusive event at the UK Parliament, attended by British parliamentarians, vice-chancellors of leading universities, and many other important stakeholders in the UK-India education corridor, where the nominations process for India’s 75 Achievers – the Achievers Honours was declared open.
The project, initiated by the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK (NISAU UK); in partnership with the British Council in India, is aligned to the year-long cultural programme India/UK together season of culture. NISAU has for the last ten years been working with Indian students and alumni, universities, sector bodies and the governments of the UK and India to offer support to Indian students and promote educational exchange between India and the UK. The UK government’s department of international trade is also one of the partners in this project.
“In this 75th anniversary year of Indian independence and the 10th anniversary of the NISAU, our aim is to celebrate the achievements of Indian students and alumni and inspire future generations of learners to use their global education to contribute to nation-building in India and for the wider global good,” Sanam Arora, chairperson & founder, NISAU, UK, said at the event.

The launch of the ‘achievers honours’ was hosted by Lord Karan Bilimoria, co-chair of the International Students All-Party Parliamentary Group and President of the UK Council of International Student Affairs; and Virendra Sharma, Member of Parliament from Ealing Southall and Chair of the Indo-British All-Party Parliamentary Group.
“The bridges that are built are absolutely phenomenal. My 86-year-old mother in India to this day keeps in touch with her Birmingham university friends who have been her best friends for life,” Bilimoria said. “The Indian Institute of Technology is now opening abroad and we at Birmingham are talking to one of them and there is a very good chance that we will have an IIT campus within Birmingham University. Can you imagine the research and exchange of students?” he added.
Sharma finds that the ties between India and UK have strengthened over time and the Indian students and the diaspora in the UK form a “living bridge” between the two countries. “This century belongs to India. Everyone accepts it, economically and politically,” says Sharma who has been a steady champion for Indian students in the UK. “Young students are the future leaders of the world, and they are the visionaries who will strengthen the ties between India and the UK.”
There has been a significant momentum in the educational partnership between India and the UK, with nearly 118,000 Indian students being granted visas to study in the UK this year and with the recent agreement between the two nations to recognise each other’s qualifications.
“The UK’s higher education system has a proud reputation and is one of our most valuable exports. Our international education strategy commits to sustainably growing education exports to £35 billion by 2030, with India as one of the five priority markets. The launch of today’s event is a strong reminder of the long history of international exchange between our two countries, building bridges with the power of education and creating the next generation of high achieving individuals,” said UK’s minister for exports Marcus Fysh, at the event.
Vivienne Stern, CEO, Universities UK, and a member of the jury that will find the top 75 achievers, said: “International education is fundamental to the ties that bind UK and India together, to the interests we share in common and work alongside each other to pursue bigger global objectives. She added that the 75 individuals who are chosen will help illustrate to the people why international education is precious. “I hope we will be able to use the brilliant stories that this initiative produces to help us illustrate the case using individual human beings and the contributions they make,” she said.
The results of the application process will be declared in a ceremony at the British High Commissioner’s residence in New Delhi on December 10,2022.