London: The UK could benefit from India’s trailblazing progress in artificial intelligence (AI) in improving its own parliamentary procedures, House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said in his address at a diaspora gathering at the historic Guildhall in London.
Hoyle was the chief guest on Tuesday evening at the High Commission of India’s annual Republic Day celebration, complete with glimpses from Sunday’s Kartavya Path parade in New Delhi and highlights of the India-UK partnership over the past year.
The speaker referenced the recent UK visit of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who was hosted by his UK counterpart in the Houses of Parliament earlier this month.
“The visit was an absolute eye-opener, especially when we heard about India leading the way in the use of artificial intelligence. To learn that AI simultaneously translates 22 languages in your Parliament is just incredible; as I told your honourable speaker, we would love to work together to find out how AI can improve our parliamentary procedures,” said Hoyle.
“This revelation only emphasises the trailblazing progress that your country is making. So, it makes perfect sense that our two great parliaments should continue to cooperate and to learn from each other to strengthen our democracies,” he said.
The member of Parliament for Chorley in Lancashire went on to highlight the historic links between his constituency and India, given Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to the textile mills of the region in 1931.
“That was a bond that will never be broken in Lancashire, I will never forget, when I look at history, about his visit to Lancashire… My love of India will always be there because of that special relationship between Lancashire and India,” he added.
The event, which opened with the national anthems of both countries, also heard from UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting who highlighted the India-UK Health and Life Sciences Partnership signed last week, which will “deepen the cooperation on health and science, [as] an equitable partnership between the UK and India”.
“There is no doubt whatsoever that India, as a global power, is going to do so much to shape our world and shape the prospects for humanity in this century. And that makes this relationship even more important… to make sure that democracy, not tyranny, thrive in the 21st century,” said Streeting.
The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, set the tone for the evening by raising a toast in honour of the bilateral ties going from strength to strength.
“It is natural that as nations with so much in common, our partnership is not only a natural choice, it is an obvious choice. After all, India's growth and development offer not only an economic opportunity for the UK to sustain its national wealth but also to offer openings for real growth.
“In return, the UK's financial sector can find sustainable returns for the long term, for investing for the long haul in the rollout of India's infrastructure, roads, ports, airports, railways, housing and industrial corridors, which are being built at pace and scale,” Doraiswami said in his address.
A wide range of cross-party parliamentarians, including Home Office minister Seema Malhotra and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, were among those in attendance at the gathering.
It concluded with an Indian-origin string quartet from the Chineke Foundation orchestra, made up of Ammal Bhatia and Sophia Kannathasan on the violin, Kesari Pundarika on viola and Meera Raja on cello, performing iconic tunes ranging from Bollywood to Mozart.
