At the G20 conference in Bali on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will declare a new ‘relationship’ with India, informed Downing Street. The U.K. will annually offer 3,000 degree-holding Indians in the 18 to 30 age range jobs in the U.K. for up to two years under the U.K.-India Young Professionals Scheme. Beginning in early 2023, the programme will operate on a reciprocal basis.
In a statement, Mr. Sunak said, ‘I know first-hand the enormous value of the strong cultural and historic links we have with India. I’m happy that more of India’s best young people will now have the chance to experience everything that living in the UK has to offer, and vice versa, enriching our economies and cultures.’
Mr. Sunak had mentioned conducting a reciprocal exchange with India during his prime ministerial campaign in the summer.
According to a press release from Downing Street, ‘the U.K. has more links with India than almost any country in the Indo-Pacific region,’ with Indians making up nearly a quarter of all international students there and Indian investment in the U.K. supporting 95,000 jobs there. The U.K. government described the program’s debut as a ‘significant moment’ for both the U.K.’s ties to the Indo-Pacific region and its relationship with India.
According to Mr. Sunak, the Indo-Pacific region ‘teems with active and quickly expanding economies.’
Suella Braverman, the British Home Secretary, claimed that Indians were the largest group of visa overstayers in Britain in her remarks, which made it less likely that the countries would reach a trade agreement before the Deepavali deadline.
The May 2021 MoU on the mobility and migration partnership, which addresses sending visa overstayers back to their home countries, was cited in a Downing Street statement as saying, ‘In parallel to the mobility partnership with India, we are also strengthening our ability to remove immigration offenders.’
Post Your Comments