 "Theresa May")
UK Prime Minister Theresa May will undertake a three-day visit to India in November, her first bilateral visit outside Europe. London is looking at the visit to “look beyond” Europe after it exits the European Union and strengthen trade links with key partners such as India.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) said the UK PM would visit India from November 6 to 8. May will also be joined by her International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and a delegation of representatives from small and mid-size businesses. May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review all aspects of India-UK Strategic Partnership. The Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting will be held on the sidelines of the visit.
Modi and May will also inaugurate the India-UK Tech Summit jointly hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Department of Science and Technology. “The summit will be an opportunity for the two sides to strengthen business to business engagement in the areas of technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, design, IPRs (intellectual property rights) and higher education,” the MEA said. It added the two sides had agreed to hold the summit during Modi’s visit to the UK in November 2015.
A statement from the UK government quoted May as having said: “As we leave the European Union, we have the chance to forge a new global role for the UK – to look beyond our continent and towards the economic and diplomatic opportunities in the wider world.”
May said she’s “determined to capitalise on those opportunities, and as we embark on the trade mission to India we will send the message that the UK will be the most passionate, most consistent, and most convincing advocate for free trade”.
Her government is also keen to take up a “new approach” with more focus on smaller businesses. Reports in British media said May’s India visit to India being her first trade mission would be welcomed by those who support Brexit – Britain’s exit from the EU.
According to some estimates, 100,000 people in the UK are employed by Indian companies. The Indian diaspora in the UK is 1.5-million strong. “The relationships between our two countries are strong, and the Indian diaspora plays a vital role in our national life,” May said.
Earlier this month, the UK PM while addressing the annual Conservative Party conference had named India, Mexico, Singapore, Canada and China as countries that have told the British that they were keen for talks on future free trade agreements in the aftermath of Brexit. However, India has its own concerns on visa restrictions for Indians travelling to the UK.
The UK is the third largest inward investor in India, after Mauritius, and Singapore with a cumulative equity investment of $22.56 billion (April 2000-September 2015), nine per cent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) into India during this period. However, FDI has dropped in recent years from $7.8 billion in 2011-12 to $1.4 billion in 2014-15.
According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the value of Indian FDI into the UK registered a notable increase between 2004 and 2013, from £164 million to £1.9 billion. The UK attracts more Indian investments than the rest of the EU.
