Theresa May's visit to India is getting increasingly important for Britain, as the battle with Brussles gets tougher.
Eagerness about the visit is quite apparent on the British side, as the Prime Minister mentioned about her India visit and its importance in her Diwali speech at the 10 Downing Street on Monday. It will be Mrs May’s first bilateral visit outside European Union since taking over as Prime Minister in the aftermath of the June 23 Brexit vote. Her team will include over 160 people, mostly focused on trade. She will be visiting Delhi and Bangalore.
Speaking at a dinner organised for journalists by Ashis Ray, Dinesh Pattnaik, the Acting High Commissioner of India told Asian Voice that the Indian side is preparing for some straight talk during the visit: easier visa access and no more fence-sitting on terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
“We are not going to lose much if you don’t allow short-term migration of students, tourists, professionals. Post-Brexit, you need Indians. Our group tourists return from France, don’t come to Britain due to difficult visa conditions.”
Mr Pattnaik was accompanied by his wife Poonam Pattnaik, who is a teacher in Vienna, Austria and has lived there for 11 years with their two daughters. A linguist, she is believed to speak 7 languages as well.
It is expected that May will at least announce the extension of a pilot visa service, currently underway in China to offer easier, longer and cheaper service to tourists. Under the pilot scheme, a UK visa valid for two years is offered for £87; for the same fee or more, Indians get the visa for a maximum of six months. A two-year visa for Indians costs £330.
Reflecting the growing demand from universities and other stakeholders to remove students from net migration figures – a demand May has consistently turned down, Patnaik said, “Students, tourists and other short-term visitors are not migrants under any definition.”
Patnaik added that given the many “umbilical” links between the two countries, whichever party is in power in Britain or India, closer relations are of vital importance — more so in the post-Brexit situation for Britain, which will need a strong connection with an old partner like India now more than ever.
