Garhwal Post Bureau
New Delhi, 18 Sep: Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL led a delegation of 45 UK business schools to New Delhi this week for the second India-UK Business School Dialogue, convened by the Chartered Association of Business Schools (Chartered ABS) CEO Flora Hamilton from 14 to 16 September at the Shangri-La Eros.
The Dialogue brought senior leaders from UK and Indian business schools together with government representatives, regulators, business leaders and sector experts. It was the first major gathering of the two countries’ management education communities since the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) came into force on 15 July 2026. CETA is forecast to lift bilateral trade by £25.5 billion a year, raising UK GDP by £4.8 billion and India’s by £5.1 billion.
Speaking at the Gala Dinner, Lord Bilimoria said: “It is an honour to lead this delegation. Education has been identified in the India-UK Vision 2035 as the pillar that underpins every other area of our collaboration, and people-to-people relations are the golden thread of this partnership. The intellectual partnership between India and the UK will create a skilled, forward-looking talent pool ready to address global challenges.”
A crossbench peer in the House of Lords, Lord Bilimoria is the founder of Cobra Beer and of the UK India Business Council, as well as the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce UK. He is President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), Patron of the Small Business Charter, a Fellow of the Chartered ABS, and a former Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and President of the CBI.
Lord Bilimoria spoke alongside Professor Stewart Robinson, Chair of the Chartered ABS, at the British Council reception on 14 September and introduced the morning keynote by Shiv Shivakumar, Past President of AIMA Operating Partner at Advent International, on what global business now needs from management education.
The conference also heard a statement of support from Ben Mellor, Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi, and keynotes from Lily Bi, President and CEO of AACSB International, and from Ashish Tewari of Infosys on the responsible adoption of AI.
On the opening day, Chartered ABS launched its Transnational Research Policy Statement, setting out guidance and common principles for designing and managing transnational research partnerships that are strategic, ethical, high quality and built on trust.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry, gave the keynote address at the gala dinner on 15 September.
The Dialogue closed with a fireside chat at the British Council between Lord Bilimoria, Sports Entrepreneur Suheil Tandon, an alumnus of Loughborough University, and Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director India, British Council.
