Seeking to allay the concerns of students looking to pursue education in the UK, British Prime Minister David Cameron today said there was no limit on the number of Indian students in his country, although he did add that they needed to keep a tab on immigration.
"There is no limit on the number of Indian students in Britain... What is needed is genuine students who have genuine British university admissions," Cameron told businessmen at an interaction here.
Although the number of students going to Britain to study had swelled to 60,000 in 2009, that figure has come down and the country is now attracting the more genuine students.
"I think people will understand that for a country like Britain, much smaller geographically than India, we have to control immigration. We had a policy on immigration. It wasn't well managed, it wasn't well controlled over a 10-year period ... We had an additional 2 million people coming into Britain, which is a big number," he said.
Advocating a proper immigration control regime, Cameron said, "Within such immigration control, we want to have the most attractive offers for students from around the world and I think the two new limits - the limit on numbers and the limit on staying on to work in a graduate job, make for a very good offer.
"University graduates should be aiming to work in graduate jobs. I think it is a fair approach," he added.
The British PM's visit to India follows his country's decision to scrap the controversial Pounds 3,000 visa bond scheme for "high risk" overseas visitors, the list for which included people from India.
"There is no limit on the number of Indian students in Britain... What is needed is genuine students who have genuine British university admissions," Cameron told businessmen at an interaction here.
Although the number of students going to Britain to study had swelled to 60,000 in 2009, that figure has come down and the country is now attracting the more genuine students.
More From This Section
Stressing on the need for stricter immigration controls, which was not been there in the last 10 years, Cameron said students should be aiming to work in graduate jobs and not any other jobs.
"I think people will understand that for a country like Britain, much smaller geographically than India, we have to control immigration. We had a policy on immigration. It wasn't well managed, it wasn't well controlled over a 10-year period ... We had an additional 2 million people coming into Britain, which is a big number," he said.
Advocating a proper immigration control regime, Cameron said, "Within such immigration control, we want to have the most attractive offers for students from around the world and I think the two new limits - the limit on numbers and the limit on staying on to work in a graduate job, make for a very good offer.
"University graduates should be aiming to work in graduate jobs. I think it is a fair approach," he added.
The British PM's visit to India follows his country's decision to scrap the controversial Pounds 3,000 visa bond scheme for "high risk" overseas visitors, the list for which included people from India.