Sunak eyes trade deal as he opens Indian visa scheme

Prime Minister risks clash with Braverman by letting 3,000 young graduates enter Britain every year

THREE thousand Indians a year will be granted visas for the UK under a scheme signed off by Rishi Sunak as he seeks to smooth the path for a new trade deal.

The Prime Minister has given the green light to the Uk-india Young Professionals Scheme, which will be open to Indians with degrees aged between 18 and 30 to come to Britain for two years.

The move, confirming an agreement worked up by Boris Johnson, will be seen as a goodwill gesture from Britain given that Delhi is pushing for more visas as part of a trade agreement.

But both the scheme and Mr Sunak’s refusal to put an “arbitrary number” on migration targets could become points of tension with Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, who has raised concerns about the number of Indian migrants overstaying visas.

Downing Street confirmed that the scheme will launch at the start of next year ahead of Mr Sunak’s meeting with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, at the G20 summit in Bali today.

Britons will also get visas as part of the reciprocal agreement, which officials said would be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a professional and cultural exchange”.

Mr Sunak said: “The Indo-pacific is increasingly crucial for our security and our prosperity. It is teeming with dynamic and fast-growing economies, and the next decade will be defined by what happens in this region. I am pleased that 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.”

Mr Sunak’s grandparents are Indian and he is married to the daughter of an Indian billionaire, with his rise to No 10 garnering front page headlines in India.

The UK continues to push for a trade deal with India, but Mr Sunak appeared to play down the chance of a speedy breakthrough in talks, stressing that getting the correct deal was more important than speed.

Last month Ms Braverman expressed her concerns with the Indian trade deal talks and the possibility of an increase in visas for Indians.

Speaking to The Spectator magazine, she said of the deal: “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

It came as Mr Sunak refused to back getting migration down to the tens of thousands, a fixture of the 2019 Tory manifesto that Ms Braverman has described as her “ultimate aspiration”.

He told GB News: “Government policy, and my policy, is we will want to reduce net migration. I’m not going to put an arbitrary number on it because I want to be honest with people.

“Right now, our number one challenge is getting a grip on the number of illegal migrants coming. That’s the thing I want to focus on first.”