India (Commonwealth Union)_ Following the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the 17th G20 Summit, the government of the United Kingdom approved 3,000 work visas for young Indian professionals. According to a Downing Street statement, the UK government stated that India is the first visa-national country to gain from the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, and emphasized the potential of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership that was established in 2021.
It was the first meeting between PM Sunak and his Indian counterpart, a month after the first British prime minister of Indian descent was sworn in. The Twitter statement from the UK Prime Minister’s Office read: “Today the UK-India Young Professionals Scheme was confirmed, offering 3,000 places to 18-30-year-old degree-educated Indian nationals to come to the UK to live and work for up to two years.”
As part of the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, the United Kingdom will grant 3,000 visas a year to Indian nationals aged 18 to 30 with a bachelor’s degree to live and work in the United Kingdom for up to two years. The scheme will be mutual. According to the Downing Street statement, “The launch of the scheme is a momentous occasion both for our bilateral relationship with India and the UK’s broader commitment to forging stronger ties with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both our economies.”
It also stated that the United Kingdom has more ties to India than any other nation in the Indo-Pacific region. India accounts for over a quarter of all international students in the United Kingdom, and Indian investment in the United Kingdom supports 95,000 employment opportunities throughout the country. The United Kingdom is now discussing a trade agreement with India. If successful, this will be the first agreement of its type between India and a European nation. Moreover, the trade agreement will expand the current 24 billion-pound commercial ties between the United Kingdom and India, allowing the former to capitalize on the prospects afforded by India’s rising economy.
