Asia Trade Tilt' Sees Sunak Ereen-Light Visas For Indians

Rishi Sunak yesterday 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.

- Andrew Woodcock

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.

Mr Sunak, who is set to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi on the margins of the G20 summit in Indonesia today, 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 criticised an over-hasty Liz 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.