The Prince of Wales visits India

Day two: Wednesday 14th November 

During a second day of engagements in India, The Prince of Wales met with business and finance leaders in Mumbai who were taking part in a discussion on Sustainable Markets.

His Royal Highness created the Sustainable Markets Council (SMC) in June 2019 with the support of the World Economic Forum as a flexible and virtual advisory body to identify approaches to sustainable market creation. Sustainable markets are inclusive, equitable, green and profitable – a type of new economic model that works to create markets that will generate long-term value across society through the integration and balance of natural, social, human and financial capital. Sustainable markets help to drive systems-level change by focusing on consumer demand, disruptive innovation, sustainable alternatives and enhanced partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Ending the official visit, His Royal Highness joined a celebration with schoolchildren supported in their education by a charitable foundation working in collaboration with the British Asian Trust.

The Trust has four areas of programme work: education, livelihoods, anti-trafficking and mental health, with a strong track record of investing in solutions that work for the long term and that can be taken to scale. The Trust has supported more than four million people in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh since its inception.

The children sang Happy Birthday to The Prince, who today turns 71, and presented him with a cake and miniature bonsai fairy gardens.

Day one: Tuesday 13th November 

Today The Prince of Wales began a two-day visit to India, the tenth official visit that His Royal Highness has made to the country.

The Prince first met with Jolly Johnson at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in New Delhi. Jolly is a recipient of the Commonwealth Points of Light Award that honours inspirational volunteers across the 53 Commonwealth nations for the difference they are making in their communities and beyond.

His Royal Highness then met weather forecasters at the Indian Meterological Department, who showcased how at their National Weather Forecasting Centre they are able to track and forecast cyclones and other potential disasters. The Prince also met with sustainable energy companies pioneering electric transport technologies and took a short journey in an electronic rickshaw – driven by Mariya, one of a growing number of female rickshaw drivers in India. 

In the afternoon, The Prince met with President Kovind before planting a tree in the Rashtrapati Herbal Garden. 

His Royal Highness then visited the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. There he met members of the Sikh community and tried his hand at making a chapatti. The visit follows a week of festivities celebrating the founder of Sikhism.   

The Prince later attended a Service of Remembrance at Delhi War Memorial where he laid a wreath made of Khadi poppies and met with gardeners from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) who tend to the cemetery. 

His Royal Highness then travelled to Mumbai to meet with the Advisory Board of the British Asian Trust. The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by The Prince of Wales and a group of British Asian business leaders, to tackle widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in South Asia.