The long awaited India-UK Tech Summit has been finally pulled off marking its first day on November 7. British Prime Minister Theresa May is on a three-day visit to India. The visit is aimed at enhancing Indo-UK ties in the key areas of trade, investment, defence, education, and security. Stay tuned with Thinking Tech for all updates.
Delhi: UK Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in India for a three-day visit pic.twitter.com/FLjcSyiw7H
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 6, 2016
UK Prime Minister arrived India on Sunday evening for her first bilateral trip outside Europe. Describing India as one of the UK’s “most important and closest” friends and a leading power in the world, Prime Minister May said she will hold talks with counterpart Narendra Modi to bolster bilateral strategic ties in areas like defence, security, and trade.
Delhi: UK PM Theresa May & PM Narendra Modi at India UK TECH Summit pic.twitter.com/eW5rZejknt
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 7, 2016
India flags Visa concerns
The first and foremost concern of India was about the restrictions on immigration and recent changes in the Visa rules across categories. The scrapping of post-study work provision is cited as the main reason for the halving of Indian students studying in the UK from 40,000 to 20,000 in the past five years. In a positive favor to the concern, “We flagged our concerns regarding student’s visa issues, visa issues regarding business travelers and other issues relating to bonfire travelers to the UK,” told Randhir Jaiswal, Joint Secretary (Europe), Ministry of External Affairs to the media.
Also, eyeing India as a key trade partner after exiting from the European Union, the UK on Monday announced a first-ever easier visa regime for Indian businessmen that will come with swifter passage through British airports and access to EU.
A new Initiative
PM @narendramodi: We have agreed to establish a Clean Energy R&D Centre on solar energy & a new Anti-Microbial Resistance initiative
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) November 7, 2016
India is Britain’s closest friend: Theresa May
Business deals worth 9 billion pounds were signed between both the countries. Referring to the objectives of the summit, Prime Minister May said, “We will achieve this through the strong bonds that exist between our people, through British and Indian businesses working together, but most of all we will accomplish this because Prime Minister Modi and I are personally committed to investing in this relationship and turning this vision into a reality. I look forward to establishing a unique friendship and working together for the benefit of both our countries.” Britain currently is undergoing the process of Brexit. “India and the U.K. must help each other break down barriers. “We are helping India improve its ease of doing business but I am determined to go further,” she added.
I decided to come to #India because of our shared values, traditions and special relationship: @Number10gov #UKIndia pic.twitter.com/h5dzpGJPe8
— UK in India (@UKinIndia) November 7, 2016
Ms. May elaborated on the reasons for choosing India as her first destination for a bilateral visit. “I chose India because of the special partnership between our countries.”
