India-UK Forge Historic Educational Partnership as British Universities Open Campuses Across India
EduNe Bureau
New Delhi: In a landmark development redefining international education, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer have announced that nine leading universities from the United Kingdom will establish campuses in India—ushering in a new chapter of academic collaboration between the two nations.
Among the first to take root is the University of Southampton, which has already inaugurated its Gurugram campus, welcoming its first batch of students this academic year. The move marks a significant milestone under India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which envisions transforming the country into a global education hub and facilitating foreign universities to operate within India’s borders.
This initiative, officials say, will provide Indian students access to world-class education without having to go abroad, while fostering joint research, innovation, and industry-academia linkages. It also underscores India’s growing role as a preferred destination for international academic partnerships in the post-pandemic era.
British Universities Expanding to India
Five UK universities have so far confirmed their campuses across major Indian cities:
- University of Southampton – Gurugram (campus operational)
- University of Liverpool – Bangalore
- University of York – Mumbai
- University of Aberdeen – Mumbai
- University of Bristol – Mumbai (Enterprise Campus, opening 2026)
These campuses will offer programmes aligned with both UK and Indian educational frameworks, ensuring that degrees earned in India carry the same academic weight as those from their home institutions.
Strengthening Ties Under Vision 2035
The announcement coincided with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first official visit to India (October 8–9), during which he and Prime Minister Modi reviewed the progress of the India–UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership under the Vision 2035 roadmap.
Adopted during Modi’s visit to the UK in July 2025, Vision 2035 outlines a 10-year plan to deepen cooperation in trade, technology, defence, climate action, healthcare, and education. The entry of UK universities into India is seen as one of its most tangible outcomes, reinforcing the shared commitment to knowledge exchange and skill development.
Starmer’s visit also accompanies the largest-ever UK business delegation to India, a sign of renewed vigour in bilateral relations. Both sides have recently concluded negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), expected to reduce import costs, create employment, and bolster investment and innovation across sectors.
A Milestone in Educational Diplomacy
Experts view this educational collaboration as a transformative step—one that could reshape India’s higher education landscape by merging global teaching standards with local aspirations. It is also expected to encourage academic mobility, spur joint research in frontier technologies, and strengthen people-to-people ties, a cornerstone of the India–UK partnership.
As India positions itself as a global knowledge hub and the UK looks to deepen engagement with the Indo-Pacific, the opening of British university campuses on Indian soil stands as a powerful symbol of trust, mutual respect, and shared vision for the future of learning.
