UK visa cap sends wrong message to India
July 26 2010 by Liam Clifford
David Cameron is on a trip to India
Jo Johnson, the Conservative MP for Orpington and the former FT Delhi Bureau chief, says that the recent cap imposed on UK work visas could have an adverse effect on David Cameron’s current trip to India.
Cameron is embarking on the largest
ministerial delegation to the sub-continent since the days of the Raj. He says
he hopes to open a new chapter in Anglo-Indian relations.
Johnson spoke
to Radio 4 about her concerns and explained that the US immigration department has measures in place to encourage Indian investment and job creation in the US:
"The US [has] its start-up visa programme that is deliberately targeting the
Indian entrepreneurial classes, saying to them come and invest in the US.' She
added, "We need to be competing for the Indian entrepreneurial classes. We must
encourage them to come and invest here."
Johnson's concerns reflect those
expressed by ministers in Delhi who have complained that the new cap on UK work
visas will hinder Indian business interests in the UK.
Indian commerce
minister, Anand Sharma, explained,"[These] immigration policies would affect
adversely the professionals, Indian doctors, engineers and nurses, who have made
a notable contribution to the UK economy."
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