\u201cWe are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,\u201d remarks UK PM
\n london
\nBritain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year\u2019s trade agreement.
\nStarmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday, bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal, which was agreed in May, signed in July, and is due to come into effect next year.
\nStarmer said that visas had blocked previous efforts to seal a trade deal, and that, having reached an agreement which had no visa implications, he didn\u2019t wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.
\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t part of the plans,\u201d he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was \u201cto take advantage of the free trade agreement that we\u2019ve already struck\u201d.
\n\u201cBusinesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas.\u201d
\nStarmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on immigration amid high public concern about the issue, as his Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in polls.
\nHe said visas would not be on the table in order to attract tech sector professionals from India, after US President Donald Trump hiked fees on H-1B visas, though he said more broadly he wanted to have \u201ctop talent\u201d in Britain.
\nAsked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries that won\u2019t take back foreign criminals or people wanted to deport, Starmer said it was a \u201cnon-issue\u201d with India as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly.
\n\u201cWe are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,\u201d remarks UK PM london Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year\u2019s trade agreement. Starmer begins a two-day trip to India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-507540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n