LONDON – In a major development, the spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the country has no plans to change its approach to reducing net migration to help secure a free trade deal with India.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the spokesperson addressed the rumors and said the Prime Minister believes that the current levels of migration are too high.
He clarified that there are no plans to change Britain’s immigration policy to achieve this free trade agreement with India and that includes student visas.
The statement comes days after Interior Minister Suella Braverman sparked controversy with comments about the possible impact of Indian migrants in trade talks, citing concern both with any “open borders migration policy with India” and visa overstayers.
At the same time, India’s High Commissioner to Britain, Vikram Doriaswamy, clarified that while there had been discussions about India requesting additional visas in the British press, this topic had not been under discussion in the Indian media.
“We never said that the visas are part of our ask,” he told Times radio, adding that India instead sought simpler ways for companies to move UK and Indian nationals between the countries.
“We are not asking for migrants to be able to come here,” he said.
The comments come as optimism grows that a free trade deal between the countries could be concluded this year, as both sides agree on the broad contours of the pact. Some experts are skeptical about the fact that the remaining topics to be discussed are challenging.
British Premier Rishi Sunak, who heads to India for a G20 summit this weekend, also told his ministers that negotiations were progressing but that he would only agree an approach that worked for the whole of Britain.
There had been rumors regarding the trade agreement and Britain’s plans regarding this; however, the comments have put rumors to rest.
Indian policy experts were hopeful of relief after trade minister Kemi Badenoch said in June that Britain would discuss temporary business visas as part of trade talks but not broader immigration commitments or access to Britain’s labour market for Indian workers.
