 "Theresa May")
UK Prime Minister Theresa May landed here on Sunday night as part of a three-day visit to India, her first outside the European Union, looking for more Indian investments and improved bilateral trade in a post-Brexit scenario.
But her government’s refusal to recognise India’s concerns about London toughening immigration rules for Indian students and workers could nip any potential trade deal in the bud, government sources said. New Delhi will raise the issue of difficulties being faced by Indian students in the UK.
The government’s response to the May visit has been tepid. May will not interact with information technology majors during her half-a-day stay in Bengaluru on Tuesday, apparently to evade difficult questions on her government’s visa norms.
New Delhi’s nonchalance about the visit became evident when the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dispensed with the customary pre-visit curtain-raiser press conference usually held to outline the contours of possible agreements and the discussions to be held during the visit. This is in contrast to the UK PM as well as 10, Downing Street, issuing regular statements about their hopes from the visit. The MEA is busier investing efforts to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s next weekend’s visit to Japan a success.
May and her government have sold the visit as an important opportunity to tell the world about what post-Brexit Britain has to offer to the world. Brexit refers to Britain’s exit from the European Union. The UK side is trying to do much of the heavy lifting, along with Indian industry chambers, to make May’s visit to India a success. The UK side is also keen to deepen defence and security ties. But, it remains to be seen how it can persuade New Delhi on a trade deal, while sticking to its strict immigration rules.
MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: “As far as the issue of student visas is concerned, yes it is true that in the last year or so, the number of Indian students enrolling in UK universities has gone down by almost 50 per cent, from around 40,000 to around 20,000 now. This has happened because of restrictions on post-study stay in the UK.” Indian students and people-to-people relations were important pillars of India-UK ties, he said. “We have raised our concerns on difficulties faced by Indian students with the UK side and we expect mobility issues to be raised during the visit.” He said India would continue to raise its concerns about mobility with the UK. “Mobility of people is closely linked to free flow of finance, goods and services.” As the home secretary in the David Cameron government in 2010, May was the force behind doing away with the post-study work visa, which allowed foreign students a two-year work permit after completing a course at a British university. Three years later, May attempted to introduce a “visa bond” scheme for foreign students, including from India, to prevent “high-risk” students from staying in the UK after the expiry of their work permits.
During the visit, May and Modi will inaugurate the India-UK Tech Summit, on Monday, in New Delhi. MEA officials stressed that the decision to hold the India-UK Tech Summit was agreed on during Modi’s visit to the UK in November 2015, and it was not something organised in the post-Brexit climate. Modi had then received a grand welcome in London with the then UK PM David Cameron even attending the Indian PM’s diaspora event at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
Under the umbrella of the India-UK Technology Summit, four other summits are also being organised. These are the India-UK Higher Education Summit, the India-UK Entrepreneurship and Innovation Summit, the India-UK Design Summit and the India-UK Intellectual Property Rights Summit.
