Rishi Sunak has today made a bid to resurrect plans for a trade deal with India, by giving the go-ahead for 3,000 visas for young professionals from the country to work in the UK each year.
The move represents an olive branch to Delhi, after an outraged Indian government put plans for an agreement on ice in response to home secretary Suella Braverman’s comments about Indian migrants.
And Mr Sunak, who is set to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi on the margins of the G20 summit in Indonesia on Wednesday, said it formed part of a “new tilt” towards the Indo-Pacific region which will become a greater priority in UK foreign policy under his premiership.
However, he distanced himself from the deadline-driven approach to trade deals adopted by his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, insisting he would not “sacrifice quality for speed”.
His comment came a day after ex-cabinet minister George Eustice blasted an over-hasty Truss for delivering pacts with Australia and New Zealand as trade secretary which were bad for Britain.
As PM, Mr Johnson pledged to complete the Indian deal, with a value estimated by the government at £24bn, by Diwali.
But with the UK government seemingly unwilling to budge on India’s demand for more work and study visas, the date passed without agreement last month.
An initial agreement on the UK-India Young Professionals Scheme was reached by then home secretary Priti Patel in 2021, as part of a deal which will also make it easier for Britain to return individuals who overstay their visas.
But it had not yet come into effect, and Mr Sunak’s final green light was needed for the first young people to come to the UK in early 2023.
Under the scheme, 3,000 degree-educated Indian nationals aged 18–30 will be offered visas each year to live and work in the UK for up to two years, with the same number of Britons able to work in India.
Downing Street described it as “a significant moment both for our bilateral relationship with India and the UK’s wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both our economies”.
It represents a rebuff to Ms Braverman, who provoked Delhi’s anger in October with a magazine interview in which she expressed “reservations” about more visas for Indians and claimed that overstayers from the subcontinent already pose a problem.
“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India,” she told The Spectator. “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”
Officials in Delhi were reported to be “shocked and disappointed” by the “disrespectful” remarks, which were blamed for the cancellation of a mooted visit to the UK by Mr Modi.
Hailing the visa scheme, Mr Sunak said: “I know first-hand the incredible value of the deep cultural and historic ties we have with India.
“I am pleased that even more of India’s brightest young people will now have the opportunity to experience all that life in the UK has to offer – and vice versa – making our economies and societies richer.”
But he made clear he did not expect it to trigger the swift conclusion of trade talks.
“I think the India trade deal is obviously a fantastic opportunity for the UK and I talked to prime minister Modi about it when we spoke and no doubt we’ll be talking about it again when we meet this week,” said Mr Sunak.
“But I wouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed. And that goes for all trade deals. It’s important that we get them right rather than rush them and so that’s the approach I’ll take on trade deals.”
