An eight-member multi-party
delegation visited the UK from April 13-21, 2013 to participate in the
third leg of the Chevening - CPR Parliamentarians’ Fellowship Programme with Oxford University. This Programme launched in April 2012 is a collaborative
initiative undertaken by the GPPI-CPR, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) and Oxford University. The focus of the visit was to expose
Parliamentarians to the UK’s top opinion formers and decision-makers in a wide
range of fields.
The delegation attended a series
of broad based discussions with some of the finest academicians and scholars of
the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford. The week-long
series of tailor-made sessions focused on leadership, international relations,
public policy and tackling key issues of the 21st century that affect both
India and Britain.
Among other subjects which
dominated the discussions were Capital Controls & their Implications
on Emerging Economies; Global Financial Crisis & its Implications for
India; China After the Succession; Climate Change; Energy Security; Perils of
Parliamentary Democracy; and Police Accountability & Democracy,
besides other issues of topical relevance.
After the sessions at Oxford, the
delegates held meetings with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and other UK
Government departments as well as Parliament. They also visited the renowned
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London where they had
candid discussions on ‘Current Political and Security Issues in South
Asia’.
The multi-party group of MPs who
participated in the program include: Mr. H K Dua (Independent); Mr. Bhakta
Charan Das (Indian National Congress, Orissa); Mr. Prakash Javadekar (Bharatiya
Janata Party, Maharashtra); Ms. Yashodhara Raje Scindia (Bharatiya Janata
Party, Madhya Pradesh); Mr. P D Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front, Sikkim)
Mr. Ijyaraj Singh (Indian National Congress, Rajasthan); Mr. Hamdullah
Sayeed (Indian National Congress, Lakshdweep) Dr. Ajoy Kumar (Jharkhand Vikas
Morcha, Jamshedpur) Mr. Ramesh Chandran, Director, GPPI & Senior Fellow
CPR, accompanied the delegation to Oxford University.
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| Parliamentarians during the question & answers session at Oxford |
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| Oxford-Chevening-GPPI, CPR Parliamentarians’ Program: 2013 Group |
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| L to R: Yashodhara Raje Scindi; Prakash Javadekar; P D Rai |
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| Oxford-Chevening-GPPI, CPR Parliamentarians’ Program: 2013 Group |
