The initiative by the Association of Colleges to meet officials from the Indian government (“Colleges get ready to book a passage to India”, 4 January) is welcome and builds on historic links between the UK and India. Education is one of Britain’s most successful export industries, and India is an ideal market for the UK. Britain governed India for the best part of 200 years. Today, India is an important investor in the UK and a member of the British Commonwealth. English is one of the two national languages of India (Hindi being the other). Many of India’s most influential newspapers are published in English - The Times of India is the most widely read English newspaper in India. English is the language of India’s elite institutions of higher education, such as Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and a DPhil at the University of Oxford. UK colleges can build on these historic ties by developing educational institutions in India, by themselves or in collaboration with local Indian colleges and universities.

Shouvik Datta, Teacher of English as a foreign language, Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers.