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Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

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9th May 2017 Chennai, India

Cliff Dennett

Cliff Dennett

Head of Business Development, Innovation Birmingham Ltd, UK

Innovation Birmingham

In March, I had the absolute delight of visiting India for the first time in my life and the whole week was an adventure, both personally and commercially. Experiencing the Indian way of life, the hospitality and incredible proactivity to doing business were all eye-opening, as was the traffic! I help run Innovation Birmingham, the […]

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21st November 2016 Chennai, India

Rudy Fernandez

Rudy Fernandez

Head of Public Affairs

Yashoda’s story: burn survivors of violence against women and the need for a support system

On Wednesday, I will launch British Deputy High Commission Chennai’s violence against women (VAW) project at Kerala’s Baby Memorial Hospital (BMH) in Kozhikode (Calicut). Here’s a great blog by Rudy Fernandez who’s leading on this project which we’re running across several Indian states over the next couple of months to support better government responses and […]

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7th June 2016 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

But I love it……

I know it’s been too long since a wrote a blog. It’s hard to think of subjects any readers might be interested in (as always, feedback welcome!) and to prioritise the time. But I’m very conscious that I’m halfway through my posting (sorry, you’re stuck with me to Summer 2018), which is a real driver […]

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8th December 2015 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

CITY OF HEROES

As I look outside at bright sunny skies, it’s almost impossible to recall what the last 3 weeks have been like. Chennai has been battered by the highest rains in over a century. The BDHC closed for 3 days when the electrical supply room flooded, and the power had to be switched off but this […]

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27th November 2015 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

A Very Unlikely Ambassador

Today I celebrate 20 years in the Foreign Office. I joined, like many others, because I wanted to see the world and be a part of something that mattered. I remember during the induction a colleague who was less awed by the surroundings asking how long it would take to get promoted (answer 12 years if […]

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11th November 2015 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

My Pal Ralph

The tall bloke on the right is my best friend Ralph Chapman (obviously I’m not quite that short nor, unfortunately, that young). We’ve known each other since we were 3 and together at Nursery (when I spoke mostly Gujarati), and best mates since we were about 8 when I was forcibly separated from Michael Mowbray […]

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17th September 2015 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

5 reasons you should think about working for the UK in India

I’m always conscious that working for my government is a privilege, even if I’ll never become rich as a British civil servant. And working in India – on most days – is an absolute blast, not least because of the incredible team across India that I get to work with. Being a dynamic and growing […]

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23rd November 2014 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

Why I’ll be wearing orange on 25 November

I’ve spent most of my career working on Africa and its issues. It’s a beautiful, resilient, inspiring continent. The people are simply extraordinary. But I’ve also seen first-hand the prevalence of violence against women there. That’s true in conflict – in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and most recently as Ambassador to the Central […]

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27th September 2014 Chennai, India

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by Bharat Joshi

British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai

Unsung heroes

Last month I turned 45. I’m not telling you this so you can congratulate or commiserate with me, although my beloved wife did – very sweetly – remind me that I’m now numerically closer to 50 than 40 (thanks darling). But I do find that birthdays are increasingly occasions for reflection. This year, I was […]

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About Bharat Joshi

Bharat was brought up in Kent. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1995 from the hotel industry and has had diplomatic postings to the Gambia, Dhaka and…

Bharat was brought up in Kent. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1995 from the hotel industry and has
had diplomatic postings to the Gambia, Dhaka and Qatar. He was most
recently British High Commissioner to Cameroon, and non-Resident Ambassador to Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic.
Before that he worked as a Private Secretary to two British Ministers, as well as in various Departments of the FCO including the European Union Department and Press Office.
Bharat has experience of crisis management and has been deployed to the scenes of major incidents involving British nationals, including after the tragic bombing of the British Consulate-General in Istanbul in 2003.
Bharat’s varied career has been spent dealing with a full range of
HMG objectives, including promoting political and economic reform and
improved human rights; improved UK prosperity through trade; climate
change and UN policy issues. A major part of his portfolio in Chennai is supporting mutual prosperity between the UK and India, transforming lives through jobs, entrepreneurship and skills partnerships.
Bharat has been very happily married (at least forhim) to Bhakti for 18 years and they have two
wonderful daughters. His interests are cricket, badminton, history, reading and travelling.
Bharat speaks English, French, Gujarati and Hindi and Spanish, and is desperate to learn Tamil.