British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to finalise details of his visit to India, that will be preceded by a string of ministerial and high-level visits from London, when he formally meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Toronto, Canada on June 27 on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.
Both Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have already accepted invitations to visit India.
Energy Minister Greg Barker is expected to lead the string of the ministerial visits with a business delegation to India. This visit is likely to finalise trade and research deals between companies of both countries on climate change and green energy.
This will pave the way for Hague’s visit which will give both sides an opportunity to articulate bilateral and international concerns of New Delhi and London. Importantly, it will give India a clue into the thinking of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government.
The visits are seen in the context of Queen Elizabeth’s speech in the British parliament where she said: “We will work to establish a new special relationship with India.”
New Delhi will be dealing with the Conservatives for the first time after a gap of 13 years which were marked by a liberal expansion of trade and defence ties and cooperation on anti-terrorism measures under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The philosophy of the new coalition’s foreign policy on India is outlined in a briefing note of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: “We need to better recognise India’s rising global influence and work closely with the Indian Government to address the many challenges facing South Asia.”
The Cameron government is not expected to drastically change the previous government’s policies on two-way trade and investment, higher education research, transparency in terrorism management and continued support to India’s application for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
However, there are two immediate issues where both countries will have a lot to think about. From India’s point of view, New Delhi has been taking note of the criticisms by various organizations in India and the UK of the new government’s determination to cap immigration from non-EU countries and the more stringent visa rules for students, spouses and tourists brought into force recently.
Pressure is also mounting on Cameron inside the UK on the immigration cap. Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, an influential business membership organisation whose mission is to make London the best city in the world in which to do business, has already warned that the Conservative immigration plans threatened Britain’s position as a global commercial hub where several Indian companies have set up offices.
Secondly, while the Cameron government is eager to take its ties with India to a higher level, it is aware of the competition from the US on that issue. Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a South Asia specialist at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), was quoted in The Times as saying that Britain had been partially eclipsed by the US, which signed a nuclear co-operation deal with India in 2008.
“That was a game-changer for India in terms of its relationship with the US, when it came in from the cold after its nuclear tests and sanctions were lifted.”
Roy-Chaudhury asked: “Is the British Government willing to take a risk with India and work on a game-changing event in the same way the US did?”
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