CM meets British High Commissioner Sir James Bevan in Gandhinagar

Published By : Admin | October 22, 2012 | 15:32 IST

Shri Narendra Modi meets British High Commissioner Sir James Bevan in Gandhinagar 

Shri Modi and Sir Bevan spoke about strengthening ties between Gujarat and Britain in their 50 minute long meeting in economic, education, social and diplomatic spheres. 

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On Monday 22nd October 2012 Shri Narendra Modi met the High Commissioner of United Kingdom Sir James Bevan. They discussed the strengthening of relations between Gujarat and United Kingdom. The meeting lasted for 50 minutes. During the interaction, the High Commissioner was presented with a Rogan Painting, a 2000 year old cultural tradition of the Kutch region. The painting was made by Muslim artists from Kutch.  Sir Bevan was presented with a shawl and a copy of Shri Modi’s book ‘Convenient Action’ that talks about how Gujarat has been tackling the menace of climate change.

Sir Bevan spoke about Gujarat’s development and strengthening ties between Gujarat and UK in economic, education, social and diplomatic fronts. Considering the large number of members of the Gujarati community in UK, Shri Modi raised the possibility of setting up an office of Deputy High Commissioner in Ahmedabad.

The Chief Minister mentioned that every year large number of students from India including Gujarat go to UK for their higher studies but some of them attend bogus colleges that are facing investigation by British Government. In the light on this, Shri Modi asked that Britain organize seminars in different cities of Gujarat and provide guidance on good colleges in the UK. 

Shri Modi spoke about the opportunities for British companies in the development journey of Gujarat especially in port development and GIFT city. He also spoke about support from Britain’s state of the art technology in the field of climate change. Sir Bevan accepted an invitation to send a high level delegation from Britain to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit in 2013. On behalf of the people of Gujarat, Shri Modi congratulated Sir Bevan on the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Queen Elizabeth II and congratulated Sir Bevan for the awards he has been honored with from the British Government.

Those present during the meeting included ACS Mr. Varun Maira, ACS Mr. SK Nanda, Principal Secretary (Industries) Mr. Maheshwar Sahu, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. GC Murmu and Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. AK Sharma.

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State Visit of Prime Minister to Seychelles
June 28, 2026

As part of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s State Visit to Seychelles from 27-29 June 2026, Prime Minister and the President of Seychelles, H.E. Dr. Patrick Herminie today held official talks at the State House in Victoria, Mahe.

The talks covered the full spectrum of bilateral relations, with the leaders agreeing to further strengthen cooperation in health, education, capacity building, digital transformation, sustainable development, social infrastructure, renewable energy, maritime security and defence. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including challenges in the Indian Ocean region, such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy. Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the implementation of projects and initiatives under the Special Economic Package announced by India. Prime Minister reaffirmed India’s commitment to supporting the development priorities of Seychelles and to further deepen the close and enduring partnership between the two countries.

Following the official talks, both leaders released a joint commemorative logo marking 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Several MoUs/agreements in the fields of Capacity Building, UPI, Health, Agriculture, Shipping, Space, Extradition and Line of Credit were exchanged thereafter. The amount of the Line of Credit stands at INR 1250 crores. The full list of MoUs/agreements may be seen here [link]. In addition, several announcements in the fields of food security, infrastructure, health, vocational training, maritime security and defence were made in support of the development needs of Seychelles. The details of these announcements may be seen here [link]. Seychelles also announced that it is joining the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure [CDRI].

Later in the day, Prime Minister addressed an Extraordinary Sitting of the National Assembly of Seychelles, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to do so. In his address, he highlighted the historical bonds of friendship between India and Seychelles and underscored the shared values of democracy, rule of law and people-centric governance that guide the two countries. He noted that mutual trust and close cooperation have shaped a robust partnership spanning development cooperation, maritime security, technology, innovation, health and capacity building. Prime Minister also called for enhanced parliamentary exchanges between the two democracies. The full address of Prime Minister may be seen here [link]

The Leader of Opposition of Seychelles, H.E. Mr. Bernard Georges, also called on Prime Minister. The two leaders discussed India-Seychelles bilateral ties and conveyed their strong support to further build the special friendship between the two countries.