Robert 'Bob' Blackman is a Conservative Party leader from the United Kingdom, who has served as the Member of Parliament from Harrow East since 2010. He has also served as the Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee since 2012.   

Bob is a great friend of India, representing a constituency, where a third of his voters are of Indian origin. He has made great attempts to integrate and assimilate his constituents of the Indian origin in the business, social and political mainstream over the years. In the Labour dominated politics of the London area, he is one of the few Conservative MPs who win consistently with his strong local connect.  

Bob understands the UK - India relations very well. He has been advocating a trade deal between the two countries. He tweeted the myths being spread on the recent Indian farm reforms and appealed to his fellow British MPs to not fall to the propaganda being spread about these laws. Bob had met PM Narendra Modi one on one during his last UK visit.  

Bob was awarded the Padma Shri for exemplary public service in 2020. In this wide ranging conversation, we discussed India-UK relations and what the future holds.