International politics
UK Wants Indian Trade,
Not Indians
Theresa May’s trip to India came on the
back of two developments in the UK:
the High Court ruling on Brexit and the
announcement of the new visa rules for
non-EU nationals
By Monish Gulati
U
K Prime Minister Theresa May is in New Delhi from
November 6-8 on her first bilateral visit outside
the European Union (EU). The visit is seen as an
opportunity for the two sides to strengthen business
to business engagement in the areas of technology, finance,
entrepreneurship, innovation, design, IPRs, higher education
and defense & security. She will hold talks with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and review all aspects of India-UK Strategic
Partnership. The Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO)
meeting will be held on the sidelines of the visit.
As expected, May used the trip to deliver on her ambitious
vision for Britain after Brexit by introducing new and emerging
enterprises, as well as more established players, to the key
Indian market. While announcing the visit, she had said “We
have the chance to forge a new global role for the UK – to look
beyond our continent and towards the economic and diplomatic
opportunities in the wider world.” The visit is expected to unveil
Britain’s post-Brexit “new global role” and where India figures in
that.
Among issues that were at the forefront of bilateral discussion
was a potential India-UK Free Trade Agreement. On trade, Theresa
May declared that the UK will become the “most passionate,
most consistent, and most convincing advocate for free trade,”
and during the current visit she looked focusing on small and
medium-sized businesses and her delegation was inclusive of
representation from every region of the UK.
During the visit she, along with Modi, inaugurated the India-UK
Tech Summit in New Delhi, jointly hosted by the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) and the Department of Science and
Technology. The UK-India Tech Summit succeeded in bringing
together the entrepreneurs, business leaders and policy makers
from both sides for a three-day exchange to focus on matters
such as technology, education, design, advanced manufacturing,
and robotics among others which are seen as critical to India’s
developing economy.
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The Dayafter November 16-30, 2016
However, her trip to India came on the back of two
developments in the UK: the High Court ruling on Brexit and the
announcement of the new visa rules for non-EU nationals. The
former has led to a piquant situation where the May government
has been shorn off the sovereign right to set into motion the
process to withdraw from the EU ( by invoking Article 50 of the
Lisbon Treaty) prior to securing a parliamentary approval. The
Conservative government has a small majority in the House of
Commons. The government is set to appeal to the Supreme
Court. May had earlier declared her intention to initiate Brexit by
March 2017 and complete the process in two years.
Even prior to the High Court’s ruling some critics were claiming
that May’s visit was less about India and more about the need
to reassure voters back home on her government’s ability to
manage the post-Brexit concerns, particularly those regarding
the economy. UK cannot legally make any trade deals with India
until it is officially out of the EU, which is by 2019 at the earliest;
the High Court’s ruling may see the deadline slip even further.
Though May has assured that there will be no change in the 2019
deadline, there are already talks about the possibility of a midterm election on the issue.
The UK government has also announced changes to its visa