Royal Visit

We all woke up early a few hours to see the horrifying death toll in the Philippines. A reminder of the power of nature. The resilience of the people is humbling. And the impressive speed at which NGOs and Aid Agencies – including DfID – have moved is impressive and will save many lives.

We’re currently sitting on the tarmac waiting for their Royal Highnesses arrival in an a/c van. The flight is on time and wheels-up. The carcade – a new word for me – looks stunning if lonely. The team is raring to go. Thus far, they look pretty calm and confident. So either they’re on top of it all or they’re handling the tension better than me. It’s been said a million times, but the waiting is the hardest part.

The appetite of the Kerala press to learn more about the visit is extraordinary. At a press conference this morning with Paul Sellers, British Council Director for South India and Group Captain Andrew McCaulay the New Delhi based Navy and Air Adviser, we had around 40 media organisations against the 10 or so we’d hoped for. Some great questions about what promises to be a great visit.

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.

Royal Visit

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