India has accepted that Britain will only offer minor changes to its visa regime as negotiations for a trade deal enter their final stages.
The new rules will lead to around 100 new visas for Indian workers each year, a U.K. official told POLITICO.
Ministers have said that securing a free trade agreement with India is a key economic priority, but with Nigel Farage’s Reform party targeting voters in Labour heartlands, negotiations over visas for foreign workers are politically sensitive.
The U.K.’s visa concession is a long way from New Delhi’s opening gambit, the U.K. official said, with India originally proposing larger quotas for professionals, particularly in sectors like IT and healthcare.
India’s chief trade negotiator Piyush Goyal will push Keir Starmer’s government to go further on other aspects of the negotiations when he visits London this week.
He is expected to ramp up pressure in talks calling for carve-outs from the U.K.’s nascent tax on high-emissions imports and proposals for Indian firms to be able to claw back payments to Britain’s state pension pot for those on short-stay visas.
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