UK PM Rishi Sunak greenlights 3,000 UK visas for Indians hours after meeting PM Modi

London: Under the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given the go-ahead for 3,000 visas for young professionals from India to work in the UK each year.

The UK will provide 3,000 visas each year to degree-educated Indian citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 who wish to visit the country and work there for up to two years. It will be a reciprocal system.

“Today the UK-India Young Professionals Scheme was confirmed, offering 3,000 places to 18-30-year-old degree-educated Indian nationals to come to the UK to live and work for up to two years,” UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a tweet. The new scheme will be reciprocal.

This confirmation came hours after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 17th edition of the G20 Summit on Tuesday.This was their first meeting since Sunak assumed office last month.

“Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @RishiSunak in conversation during the first day of the @g20org Summit in Bali,” PM Modi’s Office said in a tweet.

The British government said India is the first visa-national country to benefit from such a scheme, highlighting the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership agreed to last year.

“India is the first visa-national country to benefit from such a scheme, highlighting the strength of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership agreed last year,” the UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“The launch of the scheme is 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,” Downing Street said in a statement.

It said the UK has more links with India than almost any country in the Indo-Pacific region. Nearly a quarter of all international students in the UK are from India, and Indian investment into the UK supports 95,000 jobs across the UK.

The UK is currently negotiating a trade deal with India - if agreed it will be the first deal of its kind India has made with a European country. The trade deal would build on the UK-India trading relationship, already worth 24 billion pounds, and allow the UK to seize the opportunities presented by India’s growing economy, news agency ANI reported.

In parallel to the mobility partnership with India, the British government said it is also strengthening its ability to remove immigration offenders.

“A landmark Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the UK and India in May 2021 aimed at increasing mobility between our countries, returning those with no right to be in the UK and India respectively and sharing best practice on organised immigration crime,” the UK PMO added.

With inputs from agencies

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