Dr Karan Singh, from the former royal family of Jammu and Kashmir,met with a small number of Indian journalists in London Friday May 13 2011 for tea and a chat in the Nehru Centre, belonging to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (the arts wing of the Indian government). He was frank, honest and jovial, and broke into Urdu poetry occasionally. India's former ambassador to Unesco, member of the Indian parliament's upper house, was candid on the results of state elections today ("I'm very happy with the result") and his heartbreak over young people killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010 ("perhaps the police could use rubber bullets or some kind of gas")Indian foreign policy, the death of Bin Laden and corruption. He was charming all the way through, answered all questions, and after finding out how many Indian journos there were in London, remarked that there were only two in Paris compared to 100 Chinese.
He has revived the concept of cultural diplomacy through Festivals of India started by Indira Gandhi. There have over the last few years been Festivals with Japan, Russia, China and France.
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About Me
- Rani Singh
- London, , United Kingdom
- A broadcast journalist with tri-media capability, who reports with the BBC. In 2014 Rani reported for BBC Radio 4's flagship news programme, The World Tonight, with despatches from Bangladesh. She was granted an exclusive sit-down interview with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In 2013 Rani's exclusive report on stateless Tibetans in Nepal for The World Tonight included a quote from ex-US President Jimmy Carter. Her portfolio includes business, politics and security. She is a contributing writer for the Sunday Express, Coffee House/The Spectator, Forbes India, and is Special Assignments Editor with a weekly column in the Asian Voice newspaper. She wrote the first international biography of Sonia Gandhi, commissioned by Palgrave Macmillan. Rani originated, wrote, and is presenting a television documentary filmed in Bangladesh provisionally titled "Tigers of the Bengali Delta" centring on her interview with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. For this programme, she gained exclusive access to Bangladesh's UN peacekeeping troops along with their commanders. Contact: ranisingh424(at)googlemail.com.
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