India-UK Trade Deal On The Verge Of Collapse: India Is Shocked Over Visa Remarks; Deal Won’t Be Signed By Diwali

India-UK Trade Deal On The Verge Of Collapse: India Is Shocked Over Visa Remarks; Deal Won’t Be Signed By Diwali.

A few loose lips in UK PM Liz Truss’s administration are reportedly putting the ambitious free trade agreement between the UK and India at risk of disintegrating. By October, the trade agreement was expected to be finalized, but the deadline has passed. A Diwali deadline now also appears to be in jeopardy.

Recap: The India-UK free trade agreement went into effect in January 2022.

If approved, it will be the largest and most ambitious trade deal ever made by India, which is known for being difficult to work with on trade agreements. By signing the agreement, the UK will fulfil the Conservatives’ campaign pledge that after Brexit, it will be able to sign agreements independently outside the scope of the EU. If the agreement fails, there is no win-win outcome for any of the parties involved.

What transpired, then? The pact is currently threatened by remarks made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman on immigrants from India. Regarding the trade agreement between India and the UK, Braverman conveyed her scepticism. The bulk of overstayers in our country are immigrants from India, she added, so look at this country’s immigration situation.

According to reports, the Indian government is enraged by the comments. Also allegedly solicited that PM Truss disassociate herself from the statements is the Indian government.

India’s number of immigrants to the UK: About 20,000 Indians overstayed their visas in 2020. When compared to other nationalities, it was the highest. Other countries, however, claim a higher incidence of overstayers. By March 2020, 452,894 of the 473,600 Indians whose expired visas had left. Only 4.4% of Indians exceeded their visa’s validity.

What does India expect from the agreement?

One of the requirements for the free trade agreement put out by India is increased immigration. Although it does not imply unrestricted travel, it does mean that professionals such as doctors, engineers, technicians, etc., can move more easily. India’s textile, leather goods, and footwear industries are among those that profit from the trade.

Suella Braverman’s remarks are ironic, and Indian Twitter users are aware of this. Indian by birth, Braverman has a soft spot for the British Empire. Furthermore, it is well known who and where have the worst records of overstaying their welcome. The future of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is uncertain in light of recent comments made by Suella Braverman, a British politician of Indian descent. In an interview, Braverman expressed her concerns regarding Indian visa overstayers.

India is obviously angry at Braverman’s remarks. UK-based According to The Times, which cited sources within the Indian administration, Indian ministers were “shocked and disappointed” by Braverman’s “disrespectful” statements. Additionally, a Politico story asserts that it is now unlikely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the UK during Diwali to sign the FTA.

Social media users have also noted that the Indian High Commission’s new UK policy, which compels British nationals to visit immigration centres in person, is punishment for Braverman’s remarks.

Is Braverman‘s claim the official position of the UK?

No, according to the spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Liz Truss, Britain still hopes to reach a free trade agreement with India by the festival of Diwali later this month. In response to concerns that comments made by a colleague minister against Indian immigrants may have cast doubt on a future agreement, Britain’s foreign minister, James Cleverly, stated on Thursday that Britain wants to have an even more significant commercial relationship with India.

We do want to have an even stronger, and it’s strong already, but an even greater trading, relationship with India, Cleverly said in response to a question regarding Braverman’s remarks about Indian migrants in Britain and the potential consequences.

How did the UK and India come to an agreement?

Priti Patel, a former home secretary of Indian descent, and S Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, reached an agreement on the trade agreement known as the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) in May of last year. The accord, which the governments of India and the UK ranked as a milestone agreement, was expected to open up new chances for thousands of young people in the two countries who wanted to live, work, and experience one another’s cultures.

The two countries‘ interim agreement was designed to expand bilateral trade, facilitate travel between them, and lower the cost of importing Scotch whisky. On the other hand, India desired the removal of onerous visa requirements for trips to the UK & improved access to Britain’s high-tech industry and financial markets. The majority of highly qualified immigrants granted visas to reside and work in the UK have historically been Indians.

In the year ending June 2022, around 118,000 Indian students received a UK student visa, up 89% from the last year, according to the most recent Home Office figures. In response to the visa relaxation for students and business people under the India-UK Free Trade Agreement, Braverman said: “But I do have some doubts. Take a look at immigration in this country. The majority of overstayers are immigrants from India.

Just as early as last year, the Indian government and we reached an understanding to encourage and facilitate more robust cooperation in this area. She had mentioned that it hadn’t always gone smoothly.

By Diwali, the UK-India trade agreement won’t be finalized.

Due to disagreements between the two sides on a number of areas, the highly anticipated trade agreement between the UK and India won’t be finalized before Diwali. According to Indian sources who spoke to TOI, there is currently no plan for PM Narendra Modi to travel to the UK this month to sign the agreement.

They added that “other factors” other than UK home secretary Suella Braverman’s contentious comments to Spectator magazine casting doubt on the UK’s desire for increased migration from India have caused the talks to be postponed. The Indian sources, however, said that the remarks had, in fact, soured the discussions.

“I have worries about having an open border migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” Braverman was cited by the magazine as saying. He went on to say that most of the people who overstayed their visas were Indian immigrants and that a plan to send them back “had not always worked extremely nicely.”

The Indian High Commission in London sharply criticized her remarks, stating that all overstayer instances brought to them had already been dealt with and that her remarks on “mobility and migration” were “inappropriate” in light of the ongoing negotiations.  Diwali’s goal is not being achieved, Indian sources told TOI on Wednesday. However, they added, “We are unable to say further on it.” There is no guarantee that PM Modi will visit this month, but things could change. The source added that “no part of the trade deal negotiations” included Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya’s repatriation to India.

Edited by Prakriti Arora