Theresa May refuses to increase visas for Indians

The Prime Minister of UK has denied increasing the visas for Indians by contending that the existing visa policies were liberal enough. This view of the British PM will be unacceptable to many in the Indian Government and the commerce sector. They had been demanding for increasing the visa approvals for workers with more skills for a period of six months. This was also a major point of discussion in the trade discussions with the European Union and because of disagreement on this the negotiations were held up. Former Liberal Democratic business secretary Vince Cable has said that the tough stand taken by Theresa May on the issue of increasing the visas for Indians will be a major hindrance for successful bilateral trade talks between India and the European Union. While he agreed that the process of talks was not simple, the unwillingness on the part of the British PM to increase the number of visas was a continuation of her fascination as Home Secretary to decrease the number of immigrants. Theresa May was, however, keen to improve the trade relations between India and the UK as she offered the scheme of registered traveler making India the first country to receive such privilege. This program helps to increase the speed of visitor experience at the airports in the UK. May said that the businessmen who regularly visit the UK to enhance the economic growth of both the nations will now find that the process of entry to the UK will be considerably easier. There will be decreased the number of applications to be processed at the airport, admittance to EU passport control and quicker movement through the airports. While May refused to accede to the demands for liberal visas, she was zealous in her speech to liberalize bilateral trade between both the nations. According to the British PM free trade between UK and India was beneficial for both the nations accentuating the economic growth. Previously Theresa May said that she had to take into consideration the views of the citizens of UK on the issue of immigration. The UK Government’s assurance to the citizens of the country that the population of immigrants would be reduced required decreasing the immigrant visas from around the globe. The tough stand taken by May could upset many immigrant citizens in the UK and the other nations from the commonwealth. To quote The Guardian, the Brexit activists had claimed that an immigration policy that was not biased in favor of Europeans would benefit the immigrants from non-EU nations. Pasha Khandaker the President of the Bangladesh Caterers Association has said that is very disheartening that the UK Government is refusing to honor its promise of points based system such as Australia as assured during the campaign held to decide on a vote on exit from the EU. The traveler scheme offered by the PM of UK also is not equivalent to the privilege given to the Chinese by which the rates of tourist visa for two years was decreased to £87 from £330. Financial Times has quoted Chandrajit Banerjee Director of the Confederation of Indian Industry that he was quite optimistic that the privilege given to the Chinese would be extended to the Indians too.