SheShakti2025 | ‘We are natural partners’: British High Commissioner Lindy Cameron on India-UK relationship

British High Commissioner Lindy Cameron believes that India and the United Kingdom are “natural partners”.

In a discussion with Firstpost’s Managing Editor Palki Sharma at SheShakti 2025, Cameron on Thursday said that the most exciting part of the India-UK relationship is how the two countries can help each other grow

Cameron said that the India-UK trade deal signed last month in the UK was the celebration of the “extraordinary” relationship between the two countries.

Cameron said, “We just celebrated the partnership with the Prime Minister’s visit to Chequers not only to sign the comprehensive traded agreement, but also to launch the new Vision, 2035, which is the vision of what the UK-India partnership can be in the future. I do think we are natural partners.”

Cameron, the first woman to be the British High Commissioner to India, assumed office in April 2024. She previously served as the CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (2020-24) after more than two decades in international development and national security policy and crisis management. Her other postings the Director-General in the Northern Ireland Office (2019-20) and Director General Country Programmes at the Department for International Development (2016-19).

Watch Lindy Cameron, the British High Commissioner to India, in conversation with @palkisu at News18 #SheShakti2025.

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While Cameron acknowledged that India and the UK have a complicated history, she said there are many shared cultural reference points and shared ideals like a common language and extensive people to people ties. She further noted the centrality of the UK as a centre of higher education and highlighted that as many as seven British universities are in the process of setting up campuses in India.

‘Create room not just for yourself but also for who’d come after you’: Cameron’s message to women

Cameron admitted that, for a long period in her career, she was the only woman in the room and was a very small minority.

Cameron said that women’s participation has led to real changes in policymaking and world affairs. She noted that peace agreements in conflict zones that involve women have a better track record.

“It’s really clear that peace process that involve women last better and are more resilient. I saw that for myself — I grew up in Northern Ireland. Woman played a brilliant role in the peace process in Ireland in thinking about how it would stick, but also in making sure that it happened because woman also disproportionately pay the price for conflict, whether they are victims of sexual violence or whether they’re excluded from the workforce. I think that it’s the costs that women bear of conflict, which are extreme that mean that they are some of the most vocal advocates for peace,” said Cameron.

When asked about her advice for women, Cameron said that if you don’t see enough women somewhere, you should not just make room for yourself but for those who would come after you.

“When you look at the room and you don’t see enough woman, don’t let that hold you back. You get in there, go in and create the room that you want to see for the people who come after you. So, do it not just for yourself and know that you can do it but also do it for the people who come after you,” said Cameron.