London: Renowned boxing champion Mary Kom, India's first-ever Olympic medallist in women's boxing, was recognized as the Global Indian Icon of the Year at the annual UK-India Awards in Windsor, England.
At the gala ceremony on Thursday night, the 40-year-old athlete shared her inspiring journey of two decades dedicated to boxing and expressed her gratitude as she received the prestigious award from Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami. Mary Kom spoke about her relentless pursuit of boxing. "I have been fighting for 20 years, putting in so much effort, hard work in my life, in boxing, it means a lot... making sacrifices for my country, for my family. I really thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recognition."
The UK-India Awards, now in their fifth year, aim to acknowledge outstanding contributions by leaders in business, professional services, government, culture, and social impact, recognising their remarkable achievements in strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.
The awards, organised by the India Global Forum (IGF) as part of UK-India Week, also honoured acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to cinema in both nations. Shekhar Kapur is well-known for directing the Oscar-nominated film 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age.'
The UK-India Award for Significant Contribution to UK-India Relations went to the Nehru Centre in London, the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission. Amish Tripathi, the Director of the Nehru Centre, expressed the institution's dedication to promoting Indian culture in the West, saying, "India's culture will actually make many others, including many Westerners, think differently period. And it's our privilege at the Nehru Centre to contribute to the growth and to the popularisation of Indian culture in the West."
Various organisations and individuals were honoured across different categories. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) UK received the UK-India Award for Business Promotion Organisation of the Year. Other awardees included startup investment platform CrowdInvest for Market Entrant of the Year, SannamS4 for Consultancy of the Year, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for Legal Practice of the Year, and ICICI Bank UK Plc for Financial Services Organisation of the Year. Mphasis was named the Technology Company of the Year, while ActionAid UK received the accolade for Social Impact Project of the Year.
The winners were selected by a panel of industry experts and marked the penultimate event of the six-day UK-India Week. The week-long event included a special reception hosted by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street, during which he expressed his commitment to pursuing a "truly ambitious" free trade agreement (FTA) with India.
Prime Minister Sunak emphasised the significance of India's upcoming events on the global stage, stating, "It's not just UK-India Week, but a whole Indian summer… over the next few weeks the eyes of the world will be on India. There's the G20 in New Delhi, I can't wait to be there," indicating his plans to attend the world leader's summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September.