Mayor to Indian investors: #LondonIsOpen

Mayor Sadiq Khan met with senior Indian investors, business leaders and Bollywood legends on the first leg of his six-day trip to India and Pakistan, aimed at deepening London’s trade and investment links with the subcontinent.

A hectic itinerary kicked off in Mumbai on the weekend, where the Mayor attended a dinner with industry leaders, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and Bollywood stars including Shah Rukh Khan (pictured with the Mayor), Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, hosted a business breakfast to discuss future investment and talent links between London and Mumbai, and spoke to an audience of business leaders at a Growth Summit in the city.

Sadiq - who has pledged to be London’s most pro-business Mayor ever - also announced that prominent Indian businessman, Deepak Parekh, would become the first of a network of international ambassadors, tasked with championing London across the globe.

The International Ambassadors Network will include high-level business and cultural figures based in London or overseas whose role will be to bang the drum for London, promote investment opportunities into London and amplify key messages from the Mayor internationally.

“Now, more than ever, I am working to ensure the world knows that London is an outward-looking city that embraces talent and entrepreneurship and welcomes people from all corners of the world.

I know that Deepak shares that view of London and will do all he can to promote London as a truly global city,” Sadiq said.

Meanwhile, four talented young footballers from Mumbai will head to London to train with the Queen's Park Rangers after being selected as part of the South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenge Scheme, the Mayor announced, with two girls among the successful youngsters chosen for the first time.

While in Mumbai, Sadiq also paid a visit to Mani Bhavan, India’s National Gandhi Museum which served as Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s Mumbai headquarters between 1917 and 1934, laying a flower wreath before writing in the visitor book.

“Visiting Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya was a great honour and a memory I will cherish,” Sadiq said.

“I have always admired Gandhi’s courage and his commitment to non-violent protest in the face of oppression, injustice and hatred. Gandhi’s life, his ideals and his teachings are an inspiration to us all, not just Indians and Londoners, but millions around the world,” he said.