The UK wants to make London as India’s “destination of choice” for raising offshore finance, an Indian-origin British minister has said. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to ‘Make in India’, we say: ‘Make in India, finance in the UK’, Alok Sharma, Minster in Charge of Asia, said in an address to the UK India Business Council in London. He also sought to expand India its role as a manufacturer and innovator, also rightly address its future infrastructure and energy needs. The UK minister said the Theresa May-led government wants the City of London to become India’s “destination of choice” for raising international funds. Isn’t it the reverse migration of funds for development? UK reposing faith in India, which always was, but coming as to work as India’s destination for raising offshore finance reflects the growing confidence and emergence of India as a stable and growing economy to do business. He also clarified that there is no cap on the number of international students studying at recognised institutions in the UK. Secondly, we continue to welcome students from India in the year to March 2016, we approved 89 per cent of Indian student visa applications,” he had asserted. Moreover, Indian citizens enjoy greater access to application centres than anyone else and India is the only country where applicants can obtain a same-day visa. To ensure that the visa regime does not hinder the commercial relationship, he said that British Government wants India to be the first country to be offered the Registered Traveller Scheme, giving business travellers expedited clearance at the UK border. UK Premier May’s visit to India last month signalled the immense value it places on the existing partnership with India and sees the potential to enhance this unique relationship in the future. UK is the India’s largest major investor, responsible for employing one in every 20 Indians and India as the UK’s third-largest investor and second largest international employment generator responsible for over 1,10,000 jobs in the UK. That’s economics which makes the relations special and India should not miss the opportunity to political lethargy.
