Britain's new initiative for enhanced cultural ties with India

Calling for enhanced cooperation and cultural exchanges with India, Britain's Arts Council and British Council Tuesday launched a 1.5 million pound fund to build creative connections between the two countries.

Called 'Re-Imagine India' the project will provide opportunities for developing collaborations and cultural exchanges through projects showcasing the best of British and Indian arts.

The latest fund is in addition to the 5 million pounds committed by the British Council for the "Re-Imagine Arts" programme that started in 2013.

The project was launched by British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid who also presided over a roundtable on British-India museum partnerships that was attended by representatives from top museums from both the countries.

Speaking on the occasion, Javid stressed on digitisation of the museums as a key area for collaboration.

"There is immense opportunity for cooperation between Indian and British museums. And in this modern age of technology, digitisation is a key area where experts from both countries can cooperate," he said.

Quoting a survey done by British Council, its director Sujata Sen lamented the lack of digitisation of Indian museums and pointed out to absence of strategies while forging international collaborations.

Her views were echoed by Victorial Memorial curator Jayanta Sengupta and G.S. Rautela of National Council of Science Museums.

Javid, on a four-day visit to India where he is slated to meet several union ministers in Delhi, earlier in the day paid homage to the martyrs of the First World War at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery here.

"Whenever we speak of First World War, we should speak of one and a half million men of the Indian army who travelled thousands of miles to bravely fight for a country that was not their own. Thousands of them did not return home.

"The sacrifice of the Indian army deserves to be properly honoured and the British government is determined to make sure that it happens," he said.

He also said special hand-crafted bronze plaque to honour six Indian soldiers who were awarded Victoria Cross will be unveiled in India later this month.