The UK and India are set for closer cultural ties as the two countries finalized a new “cultural cooperation agreement” this afternoon in Mumbai.
The agreement was locked today by the UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy, who is on a three-day tour of India, alongside Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, India’s Minister for Culture and Tourism.
No real specifics on the agreement have been shared. However, DCMS has said it 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, and the British Museum all working to launch new partnerships on exhibitions or public programmes that engage the Indian diaspora in the UK.
The UK will also work with India to support best practice and expertise on heritage conservation, museum management, and digitisation of collections, including making knowledge contained in South Asian manuscripts more widely accessible.
Nandy is in India alongside a UK delegation, which includes delegates from the British Film Institute and the Science Museum. While in India, Nandy toured Yash Raj Films Studio and gave a keynote at the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai, where she dismissed calls for a steamer levy in the UK.
Speaking with Variety at the event, Nandy said: “We would be very reluctant to introduce additional levies at a time when business is booming. The U.K. is open for business, and we’re able to attract huge amounts of investment that help to create good jobs in every part of the country.”
Last month, the influential UK Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC) officially recommended a 5% streamer levy to the government and said this should be enshrined into law if the industry fails to introduce it within a year.
Informally titled the ‘Kosminsky Levy’ after its main backer, Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky, the idea gained tonnes of traction during the recent CMSC inquiry into British film and high-end TV (HETV). In their final report, the CMSC said its recommendations “should help [the industry] ride out future storms” while calling on government and industry “not to become complacent about the UK’s status as the ‘Hollywood of Europe’.”
