UK Govt assessing priorities to engage in Nagaland: Nick Low

British Deputy High Commissioner on visit to State, India-UK relations and other issues - I 

Moa Jamir 
Dimapur | November 27

 “We never do things to people, we do things with people,” emphasised Nick Low, British Deputy High Commissioner (Counsel General) Kolkata, during his recent visit to Nagaland, while implying that the United Kingdom is keen and assessing priorities to work with authorities of the State. 

‘I would never arrive and say this is what we're going to do for you in health or education or infrastructure etc. Such a scenario would be completely improper and very scary to do,’ he asserted, when queried on whether any areas have been identified for possible intervention.

Instead, what really needs discussing are particular priority areas of the concerned State, said Low, who heads the British Deputy High Commission Kolkata, representing the UK Government in 12 States and 1 Union Territory in East India as well as Bhutan.

In an exclusive interview with The Morung Express during a recent visit, the High Commissioner discussed various issues ranging from the UK Government’s activities in East India, particularly in Nagaland and North-East to bilateral relations with India, climate change and visa issues.

Low, who assumed charge of the Kolkata Commission in October 2019, admitted that due to the onset of COVID-19 from 2020-21 and a situation that was ‘not business as usual’ even during the first 3-4 months of 2022, he could visit only 8 out of the 13 areas under Kolkata jurisdiction till now. 

However, he asserted that he will be here at least until next monsoon and would try his best visit the remaining areas. 

Visit to Nagaland & possible areas of intervention 
I am really delighted to be here and has heard lot about Nagaland, Low said, while noting that he wanted to the visit to coincide with a ‘very special day’ -11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month or Remembrance Day. 

Accordingly, he laid a wreath at the Kohima War Cemetery for the ‘Fallen,’ honouring the pledge to a group of former servicemen (Invictus) –who fought at the Battle of Kohima 75 years ago, and could not come to its anniversary through the Royal British Legion,  due to the COVID-19.

However, Low stressed that it was not the sole reason.  ‘Obviously, I want to find out what makes Nagaland tick and what areas we could work on.’

As noted, Low said that ‘we do things with people’ by discussing particular priority areas of the concerned State. However, he was keen on health care. 

‘We can assess particular priorities at the moment and ascertain if that's an area where we've got the necessary expertise to assist and that's been a very productive area,’ Low stated, citing success stories in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The intervention can range from specific clinical illnesses, communicable and non-communicable disease, structure of healthcare delivery, medical education and so on, he added. 

“We will try and source peers from the UK and get it done on an expert-to-expert level so that healthcare professionals in Nagaland talking to professionals in the UK. We can replicate that as well in other sectors,” he added.

Meanwhile, Low stated that scope for boosting the visitor economy or what economists term as ‘tourism’ is immense.
This is a place of unimaginable beauties, he noted, adding that Nagaland and the North-East should be able to see larger numbers of foreign visitors “without spoiling the character” of the region. 

Tourism is a big industry employing millions of people in my own country. We reckon the tourism will account for around about 10% of the UK's GDP by 2025, Low opined.

“Just as education breeds understanding between people in different countries, colours, ethnicities and faith, tourism does the same thing,” he added. 

On being queried whether Nagaland now is conducive for investment from outside particularly the UK given the State’s chequered political history, Low was affirmative. 

‘I have been here for a matter of hours. But from what I've seen in and around the Dimapur, yes,’ he added. Low arrived in Dimapur on November 9. 

He further noted that it is not a case of British companies being inactive across the North-East. We are here, however, we would like to see more, he said. 

Connectivity
The Deputy High Commissioner also highlighted how connectivity is crucial in the NE to achieve its potential. He informed that it is an area where the UK has been talking to governments across the NE as well as the Ministry of Development of the Northeast Region.

It involves connecting NE to the sea, probably through Bangladesh, and we are looking at what economists call soft, rather than hard commodities, he added. 

The NE India is known for its exotic spices, some of the best ones all over the world. My colleagues at the World Bank told me that spices from NE, when analysed in laboratories, were richer in active ingredient than pretty much anywhere else in the world, he informed. 

Accordingly, produce from this area can become a major export industry and command very good prices outside, he added. “That is what should be happening.”

However, he noted that transport infrastructure has to be in place to move those products out of the Northeast. With soft commodities, driving thousands of kilometres over bumpy roads does not really work, Low said.

Thus looking at waterways as an alternative, he batted for integrated border checkpoints and the cargoes passing pass more quickly. 

Education sector and Chevening
Dwelling on the sector, Low highlighted how ‘education sector’ has been one of the success stories for the UK, attracting thousands of students each year, with India overtaking China in terms of foreign students studying in British Universities  in recent years. 

The increase has been astounding, he said, noting that it was over 1 lakh in March this year. Low attributed the same to quality of product – with many universities in the UK featuring in world's best list as well as strong a  Diaspora of Indian origin, among others.

He also highlighted how Chevening, UK government’s international scholarships and fellowships programme has enabled over 50,000 alumni since 1983; becoming a global network of professionals and leaders. 

Low also expressed happiness that there has been a huge increase of awardees from East and NE India since he took over the current position three years ago.

In terms of awardees, the eastern region was normally at the bottom, but in 2022 and 2021, it was placed second behind Delhi, he informed. 

The applicants are not just from famous schools in Kolkata, but what particularly pleases me is that we have Chevening Scholars from all over Eastern and NE India, he added. 

Further noting that there is very huge positive word of mouth going around, he said that there has been surge in applications.

He encouraged applicants from the State, saying: "We really would love to have some good candidates from Nagaland."

While the window for applications this year has closed, he noted that one needs to think very carefully before applying for such scholarships and accordingly start preparing for the next year. 

On the question of reparation of colonial legacy, against the backdrop of the recent initiative to repatriate Naga ancestral remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Low agreed that “artefacts of great cultural interest that clearly were acquired under circumstances,” are now being returned.

At the same time, on a personal note, he implied that some of those are world cultural heritage and perhaps worth preserving as it is.  “I'm mindful of the fact that in the United Kingdom, all of our public museums are free to enter. The curation is as good as you will find anywhere,” he added.

Some issues are also complex, he said, highlighting the case of Kohinoor diamond which incidentally is being claimed by India and Pakistan as well as  the Taliban.

This is the first of a two-part series