London

UK's foreign office has been found to be "somewhat elitist and rooted in the past" in a new report that called for the removal of colonial-era paintings in the Whitehall headquarters in London as well as renaming of the department.

Advertisment

The report was authored by a group of former diplomats, ministers, national security advisers, and senior officials.

The report titled, 'The World in 2040: Renewing the UK's Approach to International Affairs', has been released in collaboration with the UCL Policy Lab and Hertford College, Oxford. 

Also read | Rishi Sunak, the 'proud British', are you sorry for Jallianwala Bagh massacre?

Advertisment

"The UK stands today as an 'off-shore' mid-sized power in a rapidly changing world," it acknowledged.

The report was not commissioned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's administration. 

"The very name of the Foreign, Commonwealth (formerly ‘Colonial’) and Development Office (FCDO) is anchored in the past," the report states. 

Advertisment

"A new Department for International Affairs (or Global Affairs UK) would signal a potentially quite different role. Former colonies are making increasingly vocal demands around the need for reparations from colonialism and compensation for damage arising from historical industrial emissions. UK has often sought to project an image of ‘greatness’ to the world that today seems anachronistic. We should give space, be more of a 'team-player', showing humility and respect," it states.

Also watch | UK's colonial legacy back in spotlight | World Of Africa

×

London in the past has been accused of carrying a colonial overhang in its ties with a number of capitals that it previously ruled as an exploitative imperialist power. 

For countries such as India, vis-a-vis the ties with the UK, the "scars of colonial period are both material and psychological", the country's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar wrote in his 2024 book 'Why Bharat Matters'. 

While the UK "tended to compare itself to France and Germany" in the past, the report said that it has "more in common with G20 nations like Japan and European countries like Norway and Switzerland".

"The balance of geopolitical power is shifting alongside economic power. The world's economic gravity is moving back towards the East driven by growth in China, India and South-East Asia," the report contends.

(With inputs from agencies)