Written evidence from Virendra Sharma MP on behalf of the Indo-British APPG (GBI0016)

 

Virendra Sharma is the Chair of the Indo-British APPG an official parliamentary grouping representing around 100 Members of Parliament. 

 

Executive Summary

 

  1. The UK and India have a good relationship and consistently complimentary aims.
  2. The FCO does a good, but incomplete job of promoting British interests, often due to government policy.
  3. The FCO is underfunded and requires more money to adequately support a Global Britain.
  4. Economic acts of self-mutilation, such as leaving the EU, should be kept to a minimum as they reduce the competitiveness and attractiveness of the UK.
  5. A powerful and global India is in British interests.
  6. Visas should be granted more easily but the use of rigorous technology should be implemented to ensure terms of award are adhered to.

 

UK-India relationship

  1. The UK and India have good connections and strong ties. Current FCO and government objectives remain to improve relations and personal connections with leading members of the Indian Government.
  2. Despite claims to the contrary it still appears that the Government’s ultimate aim is only to increase and ease trade. There seems to be little interest from the UK side in a more comprehensive relationship while Indian Government figures are keen to cooperate more closely, at the very least on security issues.
  3. The Indian Government and commentators in India remain happy with a relationship which boosts the Indian economy but are concerned by existing visa issues. Despite a natural closeness with Britain stemming from historic ties, higher education establishments and parallel aims, Indian policy makers are beginning to seek alternative partners centred on the Pacific or inside the EU.
  4. The issue of visas is not one I have been able to escape for any length of time when discussing UK-India relations. Indian policy makers consider the UK position to be tantamount to a national insult, Indian students are choosing to study in alternative countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA), and Indian businesses in the UK are struggling under a constantly changing and increasingly hostile regime damaging hugely important diaspora links.
  5. The future of the India-UK relationship will be highly mercantile in the medium term and the UK needs to appear more welcoming. Brexit is seen as a mistake within India, Prime Minister Modi, before the referendum, explicitly referenced Britain’s position inside the EU, and therefore role as a ‘jumping off point’, as a significant benefit for UK-India trade. While Chinese visitors have had a bespoke visa offer, Government policy towards visitors from India, in both business and leisure, has been hostile, and is perceived within in India as possibly even more hostile than the regime is in actuality.

 

Objectives

  1. To pursue sector specific trade deals in areas complimentary to the UK and Indian economies, specifically, but not limited to; legal, IT goods and services, higher education, defence, medical device and pharmacology.
  2. To make preparations for a comprehensive free trade agreement which while decades away would be of great value to both economies.
  3. To achieve, in the long run, a high level of defence cooperation between both countries, comparable to NATO.
  4. Continue to support India as the world’s largest democracy, encouraging interaction between government, policy makers and civil servants.
  5. Use the strong Indian diaspora in the UK to promote trade between both countries and to encourage a new special relationship.
  6. Support a stronger and more muscular India in the world.

 

Multilateral UK and India

  1. Britain should support India in achieving permanent member status on the UN Security Council.
  2. A strong India is a counterweight to a strong China and by encouraging a global, responsible and prosperous India Britain can mitigate the threats we will face in a second ‘Cold War’ between a USA declining in relative importance and a rising power in China.
  3. The constitution of India, characterising the nation as a sovereign, secular, democratic republic, committed to justice, equality and liberty, makes India a natural ally. India is committed to an international rules-based order and must be a key part of ongoing multilateral organisations.

 

Visas

  1. Visas are a long running and existing sore point, creating undue friction between the UK and India.
  2. It would seem to be that a number of unsatisfiable conditions exist. The Government wishes to significantly reduce net-migration to the UK.
  3. Business in the UK generally need more employees in order to fill roles they are unable to fill domestically, a problem exacerbated by Brexit.
  4. A far higher number of Indians wish to enter the UK to join members of their families than the Government wishes to allow.
  5. Indian businesses in the UK often have specific needs and want to hire Indian origin workers.
  6. A number of Indian tourist visa holders choose to ‘overstay’ and work illegally in the UK. When the British Government attempts to repatriate these illegal overstayers they receive limited support from state level or local government in India. This creates delays and a large number of long term detained overstayers.
  7. A comprehensive biometric system linked to entry data and passports to register arrivals would reduce the number of unidentifiable overstayers and speed up the repatriation process. This would need buy-in from both countries.
  8. The tourist and business visa issue and immigration demands have been conflated both in the UK and India, this is hurting the relationship. The Government needs to decide whether to prioritise reducing immigration or improving relations with our overseas partners. Technology should be at the heart of a reinvigorated visas and immigration regime.

 

September 2018