PM Modi Raises Concerns About Students Visas To British PM

13 Nov 2015

Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister, has expressed concern to British Counterpart David Cameron “over the sharp decline in the number of Indian students coming to study in the UK as well as the problems faced by them while applying for a UK study visa” .

The Prime Minister has raised the “issue of student visas very strongly”. The Prime Minister has said that, Indian student numbers in the UK has fallen by 50% in previous three years, a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said.

He has urged that, “Indian student are among the best and also brightest in the world”, and it could be a win-win partnership for both sides. Indian do require quality education and the UK benefit from the expertise that Indian students do bring, the spokesperson said.

The Prime Minister has said; “we are right now in a situation where nations are actually wooing the Indian students because India has biggest education market today”. There is a burgeoning middle class, there is an aspirational upper class, which desires to educate its kids abroad and it is an opportunity to tap into what has become a big economic market, she said.

About Cameron’s response on the issue, he said, there was a lot of understanding as well as appreciation. This is a matter for continued discussion. I do not think we can close the chapter on this.

The number of Indian students coming to the UK fell from 18535 in the year 2010 -2011 to 10235 in 2012 to 2013, as per the report published by England's Higher education funding council.

Previously the universities have also warned that negative impacts from the conservative drive might reduce net migration that is harming their recruitment of the international students, and they have been calling the Indian students removal from the net migration.

By removing the post-study work visa route, which permits students to work for two years after completion of their course has seen as one of the major off-putting factor for Indian students, who choose a destination like US, Australia over the UK. 

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