Chevening - CPR Parliamentarians' Fellowship Programme with Oxford University



An eight-member multi-party delegation visited the UK from April 13-21, 2013 to participate in the third leg of the Chevening - CPR Parliamentarians’ Fellowship Programme with Oxford University. This Programme launched in April 2012 is a collaborative initiative undertaken by the GPPI-CPR, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Oxford University.  The focus of the visit was to expose Parliamentarians to the UK’s top opinion formers and decision-makers in a wide range of fields. 

The delegation attended a series of broad based discussions with some of the finest academicians and scholars of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford. The week-long series of tailor-made sessions focused on leadership, international relations, public policy and tackling key issues of the 21st century that affect both India and Britain.

Among other subjects which dominated the discussions were Capital Controls & their Implications on Emerging Economies; Global Financial Crisis & its Implications for India; China After the Succession; Climate Change; Energy Security; Perils of Parliamentary Democracy; and Police Accountability & Democracy,  besides other issues of topical relevance.

After the sessions at Oxford, the delegates held meetings with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and other UK Government departments as well as Parliament. They also visited the renowned International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London where they had candid discussions on ‘Current Political and Security Issues in South Asia’. 

The multi-party group of MPs who participated in the program include: Mr. H K Dua (Independent); Mr. Bhakta Charan Das (Indian National Congress, Orissa); Mr. Prakash Javadekar (Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra);  Ms. Yashodhara Raje Scindia (Bharatiya Janata Party, Madhya Pradesh); Mr. P D Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front, Sikkim) Mr. Ijyaraj Singh (Indian National Congress, Rajasthan); Mr. Hamdullah Sayeed (Indian National Congress, Lakshdweep) Dr. Ajoy Kumar (Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, Jamshedpur) Mr. Ramesh Chandran, Director, GPPI & Senior Fellow CPR, accompanied the delegation to Oxford University.
Parliamentarians during the question & answers session at Oxford
 Oxford-Chevening-GPPI, CPR Parliamentarians’ Program: 2013 Group
 L to R: Yashodhara Raje Scindi; Prakash Javadekar; P D Rai
 Oxford-Chevening-GPPI, CPR Parliamentarians’ Program: 2013 Group