· A new research in the U.K. has found that Britons don’t want higher levels of immigration from India and many other non-EU countries even if it comes at the price of not securing a free trade agreement.
· Only higher levels of immigration from the U.S., Canada and Australia would be tolerated in exchange for trade arrangements.
· Just 9% of the public were willing to accept significantly higher levels of immigration from India, with just 26% willing to accept slightly higher levels, according to the research.
· The same applies to a range of countries from South Africa, to China to Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Japan and Saudi Arabia as well as to the EU and individual member states such as France, Germany and Italy.
· Critics of the government’s approach to Brexit have long questioned its ability to forge trade deals with non-EU countries as it attempts to revamp its trading priorities following Brexit.
· While a trade deal with India has been repeatedly touted by the UK government, India has highlighted its concerns around Britain’s immigration policy, particularly towards students and professionals.
· Britain is overhauling its immigration regime to bring in a system based on the skills set of the person wanting to come to the U.K. rather than on their origin.
· Britain’s foreign office insisted that India accounted for the largest number of individuals staying in the U.K. illegally. In addition, according to official figures out last week, Indian professionals accounted for the majority of Tier 2 work visas in 2018.
Source : The Hindu
07.03.2019