New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked Britain to relax student visa rules saying greater mobility of young people must be encouraged, even as Prime Minister Theresa May has said her country has a “good system” for applications.
Addressing India-UK Tech Summit with May in attendance, Mr Modi said education is vital for Indian students and will define the country’s engagement in a shared future.
“We must therefore encourage greater mobility and participation of young people in education and research opportunities,” he said.
May, who arrived here on Sunday to pave way for UK’s first post-Brexit trade deal, however, has said the UK has a “good system” for applications. UK was already able to attract “the brightest and the best” from outside the EU, she was quoted by the BBC as saying. “Nine out of 10 visa applications from India are already accepted.”
Bloomberg quoted her as telling reporters on flight to New Delhi that Britain has “a visa system for countries outside the European Union which ensures that the brightest and the best are able to come to the United Kingdom.”
“The figures show that we issued more work visas to India than I think the US, Australia, Canada and China put together,” she was quoted as saying.
UK’s new policy requires students to return home after their courses end, a move that has led to fall in Indian students enrolling in British universities by 50 per cent.
The number of study visas issued to Indian nationals fell from 68,238 in 2010 to 11,864 this year, official UK figures show. India and the UK further agreed to deepen bilateral defence ties, especially when it comes to manufacturing as Narendra Modi invited British companies to invest in the critical sector here. Discussing the issue with May, Modi said he encourages British companies to look at the multiple opportunities in the Indian defence sector.
“Looking beyond trade in defence equipment, I invite them to build partnerships with Indian enterprises that focus on manufacturing, technology transfer and co-development,” he said. A joint statement later said the two Prime Ministers recognised the potential for cooperation in defence manufacturing between UK and Indian companies in the ‘Make in India’ framework and agreed to encourage and facilitate such cooperation.
The UK will continue their engagement with the Indian MOD and Indian defence companies to simplify and expedite export controls and to support the transfer of technology to enable projects in areas of mutual interest, it said.
