Rishi Sunak green-lights visas for Indians in hope of salvaging trade deal

Rishi Sunak has today 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.

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.

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

Under the scheme, 3,000 degree-educated Indian nationals aged 18–30 will be offered visas each year to live and work in the UK for up to two years, with the same number of Britons able to work in India.

Downing Street described it as “a significant moment both for our bilateral relationship with India and the UK’s wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both our economies”.

It represents a rebuff to Ms Braverman, who provoked Delhi’s anger in October with a magazine interview in which she expressed “reservations” about more visas for Indians and claimed that overstayers from the subcontinent already pose a problem.

“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India,” she told The Spectator. “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

Officials in Delhi were reported to be “shocked and disappointed” by the “disrespectful” remarks, which were blamed for the cancellation of a mooted visit to the UK by Mr Modi.

Hailing the visa scheme, Mr Sunak said: “I know first-hand the incredible value of the deep cultural and historic ties we have with India.

“I am pleased that even more of India’s brightest young people will now have the opportunity to experience all that life in the UK has to offer – and vice versa – making our economies and societies richer.” 

But he made clear he did not expect it to trigger the swift conclusion of trade talks.

“I think the India trade deal is obviously a fantastic opportunity for the UK and I talked to prime minister Modi about it when we spoke and no doubt we’ll be talking about it again when we meet this week,” said Mr Sunak.

“But I wouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed. And that goes for all trade deals. It’s important that we get them right rather than rush them and so that’s the approach I’ll take on trade deals.”

Trade was just one part of the UK’s broader relationship with India which was “incredibly strong and indeed strategic and happens across multiple different aspects of policy”, he said.

The relationship with India was part of a shift in priorities towards Asia in the wake of Brexit, which has also seen the UK begin the process of joining the regional CPTPP trade bloc and forge the Aukus military alliance with the US and Australia.

“The Indo-Pacific is increasingly crucial for our security and our prosperity,” said Mr Sunak. “It is teeming with dynamic and fast-growing economies, and the next decade will be defined by what happens in this region.” As well as his talks with Mr Modi, the PM was also due to meet US president Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Indonesia on the margins of the G20 summit on Wednesday.

The talks with Biden come two days after the US president’s first face-to-face meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping at which the two superpowers disagreed over Taiwan but played down the prospect of a “new Cold War”.

Mr Sunak said there was “a huge degree of alignment in how the US and the UK are thinking about some of the global challenges that we’re facing at the moment”, including on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the energy supply crisis it has caused.

He said he aimed to continue dialogue with the US over gas supplies and to speak with Mr Biden over the development of the Aukus partnership and the coordination of global action around Ukraine.

“The US have done a fantastic job of supporting Ukraine, as have we,” said Mr Sunak.

“We have been working very closely with them and taking a lead in standing on the Russian aggression, as well as supporting the Ukrainians and trying to coordinate global action around sanctions and, most recently, on the grain initiative.”