Student visas or other categories of visas do not form part of the ongoing negotiations for a UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the British government clarified in the House of Lords last week.
During a short debate in the Upper House of Parliament, cross-party peers raised the urgency of clinching an FTA with India, negotiations for which were relaunched during UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds visit to New Delhi recently.
Lord Sonny Leong, UK Government Whip in the Lords, stated: “Our relationship also includes the millions in India who follow the Premier League and the huge market for Bollywood movies in the UK, which I and my wife [Gita] enjoy most weekends and whose music we occasionally dance to.
“On visas… our negotiations consider only business mobility, so they cover only relevant business visas, which are, by their nature, limited, temporary and for specific purposes. This is also beneficial to UK exporters delivering services abroad. Student visas are not part of the trade deals.”
British Indian peers Karan Bilimoria, Kuldip Singh Sahota, Sandy Verma and Raj Loomba were among those who addressed Parliament on the urgency of an FTA with India – soon-to-be the third biggest economy in the world.
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“Trade is about growth, jobs and opportunity. If we get this right, we can shape the UK’s economic future for decades to come, but, if we get it wrong — or worse, do nothing — others will fill the gap. I urge the government to move swiftly, be bold, and ensure that Britain is at the heart of the fastest-growing region in the world,” said Lord Sahota.
Lord Bilimoria called for a timeline: “The benefits of an FTA are lower trade costs for businesses, greater consumer choice, lower prices and the maintenance of standards… three Diwalis have gone by since we started these negotiations, so please let us set a deadline, let us not have the best being the enemy of the good and let us conclude this free trade agreement. Let us get it done.”
Baroness Verma called on the government to “take a leap and a jump” and appoint trade envoys to India to back up the efforts of ministers and diplomats in the region: “We have so many envoys in other countries; it is beyond my understanding why we do not have dedicated envoys for a country as big as India from the UK.”
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Lord Leong stressed that the Keir Starmer led government have made clear that it is willing to negotiate at pace towards a deal in the best interests of the UK.
“Although I recognise and agree that we would all like this deal to be speedily signed, the government can sign only once we have secured the right deal for the UK, so we will prioritise the quality of the deal rather than the haste with which we can secure it,” he said, speaking on behalf of the UK government.