Indo-UK News & Discussions- June 2017

[yensoy]

Gurus please explain to me why

UK's foreign reserves are stated to be less than $200Bn https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kin ... e-reserves yet UK holds US treasuries to the tune of over $600Bn https://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt.

Is it the case that significant bondholders are private entities/individuals/banks/investors/companies? Or bonds being held on behalf of other countries?

[g.sarkar]

https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinio ... 06137.html
India-UK trade deal: Past makes future tense
The UK economy is in shambles. The large and unfunded fiscal package caused turmoil in the financial markets, traumatised pension funds, and pushed the debt-to-GDP ratio to 101 per cent.
Shankkar Aiyar, 09th October 2022
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, achieved her Andy Warhol moment. She acquired 15 minutes of fame unveiling a parade of shibboleths at a conference of the Tory party this week.
Braverman said she obsessed, dreamed of a flight full of refugees being sent to Rwanda.
She didn’t stop at that. In her aspiration to appease the parish of the prejudiced, she went further and declared she has “reservations” about Britain’s trade deal with India as an open borders migration policy is not “what people voted for with Brexit.” Her peeve is that “the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.” The Indian High Commission refuted the claim with a terse “India has initiated action on all cases raised”.
In that Warhol moment, Braverman has put at peril the India-UK Free Trade Agreement. It’s a deal UK Prime Minister Liz Truss and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch have been scrambling to clinch by Diwali. Typically of the post-Brexit milieu, Braverman is obviously not alone in harbouring illusions about Britain and its ability to define the contours of what constitutes free in a negotiated deal.
Facts allow a greater appreciation of this gap in cognition. The discussions on the India-UK FTA were initiated sometime in August 2021. The approach paper of the UK Government arguing for the FTA in January 2022 states, “The UK and India are the world’s 6th and 5th largest economies, respectively.” The rankings are now reversed. In the past few months, India has overtaken the UK to be the fifth-largest economy.
The UK economy is in shambles. The large and unfunded fiscal package caused turmoil in the financial markets, traumatised pension funds, and pushed the debt-to-GDP ratio to 101 per cent. The growth plan has earned the sobriquet of “inept madness” from politicos, triggered a rebuke from the IMF and a downgrade from stable to negative by rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. In the past weeks, His Majesty’s Pound has been pounded to a dollar and ten cents and the currency is forecast to slide to be on parity with the US Dollar.
The reality for Britain is lodged in the lament “True is it that we have seen better days” from ‘As You Like It’. The European Union accounts for around 40 per cent of the UK’s exports, and 45 per cent of its imports and Brexit is yet stalled at the gates. Despite the “special relationship’ the vaunted FTA with the United States is not visible on the horizon. With the current account deficit hovering around 8 per cent, access to the markets of the fastest-growing economy is critical.
.....
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63129555
Kwasi Kwarteng: Investors wary as economic plan brought forward
Daniel Thomas, 10/10/2022
The chancellor's decision to bring forward the date of his plan to balance the government's finances failed to reassure markets on Monday.
Government borrowing costs rose sharply after Kwasi Kwarteng said he would fast-track his plan to 31 October.
The plan will set out how he will fund tax cuts and reduce debt after his mini-budget sparked market turmoil.
An independent forecast of the UK economy's prospects will be published at the same time.
In the wake of the September mini-budget, the pound slumped to a record low, government borrowing costs surged and the Bank of England was forced to step in and take emergency action after the dramatic market movements put some pension funds at risk of collapse.
The volatility eased but on Monday the yields - or effective interest rates - on UK government bonds were almost at the levels seen at the height of the market turmoil.
Further efforts by the Bank of England to calm markets, along with the appointment of an experienced civil servant as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury also seemed to fall short.
Former Treasury chief Lord Macpherson warned the government that there could be an even tougher response from the financial markets in the coming weeks if the chancellor could not show his sums added up.
"Unless the government can restore economic credibility, the market response in the weeks ahead could be a whole lot worse than we've seen so far," he told the House of Lords.
'Critical to millions'
Mr Kwarteng had initially said he would wait for 23 November to give details of his economic plan but faced mounting pressure from his MPs to change course.
The new date means Mr Kwarteng's fiscal statement will be published before the Bank of England announces its latest decision on interest rates on 3 November.
The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to raise interest rates for the eighth time since last December with many economists forecasting a sharper rise than previous increases.
.....
Gautam

[Rony]

More British whining because they are clubbed with Pakis

Visa rule change ruins India holiday plans for thousand

India allows citizens of 156 countries to use its e-visa system to apply and pay for a US-style electronic visa. The UK, along with nations including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Lebanon and Pakistan, is excluded, and it’s unclear why.

Until this week British visitors could still apply for a paper visa by post. Some believe the change in rules to be a technical glitch that could be fixed in the coming days. Others point to long-term friction with India over visa reciprocity. If that’s the case the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who has expressed “reservations” over a trade deal with India because it would increase immigration, has poured no oil on those waters.

We contacted Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian high commissioner, and G Kishan Reddy, the tourism minister, to ask if the UK’s exclusion was a matter of policy or an oversight, and if or when British travellers would be able to apply for online tourist visas. At the time of writing neither had replied.

What is known is that India no longer sees foreigners as primary drivers of its tourism economy. With a burgeoning middle class unable to travel overseas during the pandemic, India saw an upsurge in domestic tourism, and that has become the focus for growth for the prime minister, Narendra Modi. As one inbound tour operator put it: “The British are still welcome, but they’re not really necessary.”

[g.sarkar]

As far as I am aware, visa rules are completely based on reciprocity. There can not be one rule for Indian citizens and another for UK citizens. It is also a sovereign right for a nation to grant or refuse visa to anyone. UK will be amongst the first to assert this right when refusing visa to Indians.
Gautam

[vimal]

UK tourists should be welcome but the ones on the chopping block should be the joker Khalistanis in UK, Kanneda, Oz etc. They should be on permanent no-entry list to India. I remember one of my Indian friend was on permanent special search list at US airport because his name resembled a Khalistani terrorist.

[yensoy]

As far as I am aware, visa rules are completely based on reciprocity. There can not be one rule for Indian citizens and another for UK citizens. It is also a sovereign right for a nation to grant or refuse visa to anyone. UK will be amongst the first to assert this right when refusing visa to Indians.
Gautam

No it's no longer the case for India. Reciprocity was discarded when we rolled out e-visas to all sorts of countries - the objective was (and I agree) to be more business friendly and bring in more tourists. We also removed the reciprocal visa fees for some cases. I am not sure if paper visas still have reciprocal fees, but if so some countries (notably the US) may also benefit from longer duration - 5 or 10 year - multiple entry visas.

The problem with being hard with visa seekers is that it tends to antagonize businesses and tourists. Further, a lot of visa seekers are Indian origin people - so you are only hurting yourself - although GoI might prefer that these folks use the OCI route. OCI is also a good way to filter out undesirables or keep a check on their separatist tendencies. GoI has picked this time carefully - we are going to a low business travel season yet the peak tourist time is still a couple of months away.

[rsingh]

If you are in Brussels (resident) with non EU passport and you have to go to Angletere.....you have to go to Paris for visa.
They have messed up things very badly.
.

[Lisa]

As far as I am aware, visa rules are completely based on reciprocity. There can not be one rule for Indian citizens and another for UK citizens. It is also a sovereign right for a nation to grant or refuse visa to anyone. UK will be amongst the first to assert this right when refusing visa to Indians.
Gautam

Spot on. If you do not wish to apply for a visa then you are free to obtain an OCI card, I believe. Ghoras need to be put through what Desis have to put up with in India. Purely reciprocal.

P.S. No E-Visas from UK

https://e-visa.co.uk/india/news/e-visa-uk-canada

"In turn, the UK government applied extremely strict rules for travellers from India during the Covid-19 pandemic, since India was considered a high-risk country. This made is very difficult for Indian people to travel to the UK. As a response, the Indians excluded the British from their e-visa system."

[Aldonkar]

UK tourists should be welcome but the ones on the chopping block should be the joker Khalistanis in UK, Kanneda, Oz etc. They should be on permanent no-entry list to India. I remember one of my Indian friend was on permanent special search list at US airport because his name resembled a Khalistani terrorist.

India has rules that bar UK citizens of Pakistani ancestry from obtaining visas. I recall a couple of years ago a salesman (of Pakistani origin) at our local Curry's, an electrical shop, complaining that he wanted to visit India but was refused a visa. I asked him if he had heard of David Headley, which he hadn't. I explained his part in the 2008 terrorist outrage and he went quite.

Separately this policy does affect some genuine visitors. I have a distant cousin now resident in the US but born in Karachi , one of the increasingly small Pakistani Christian community that moved there from Goa pre independence. This man wanted to visit our ancestral home in Goa where he has relatives but was refused a visa because he was born in Karachi.

[vimal]

^^ Yes that is always the case. Genuine cases get crushed under bad apples. I’m not sure what good solution is for this.

[g.sarkar]

If you are in Brussels (resident) with non EU passport and you have to go to Angletere.....you have to go to Paris for visa.
They have messed up things very badly.
.

Singhji,
My wife (a Polish national) has EU passport and has lived in the US for about 30 years, on a green card. Earlier, she could get her visa for India on a same day visit to Indian consulate in San Francisco. Now, she has to wait, as they need an input from Warsaw. Terrorist attacks have changed everything.
Gautam

[IndraD]

££ crashes further on Pension Bond woes

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63223894

Pension funds invest in bonds because they provide a low but usually reliable return over a long period of time.

However, a sharp fall in their value after the mini-budget forced pension funds to sell bonds, threatening to create a "downward spiral" in their prices as more were offloaded, which reportedly left some funds close to collapse.

Members of the Bank's Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which helps to protect UK financial stability, told journalists at a briefing that the governor was crystal clear the bond-buying programme would end, although other support measures would remain in place.

The recent turmoil has already fed through to the mortgage market, where hundreds of products have been suspended as the volatility has made it difficult for lenders to know how to price these long-term loans

[Rony]

Good to see India pushing back but i dont get why Indian govt insists on immigration and not any tangible benefits to India itself like technology transfers or more investments in India or market access to Indian business products . Apart from remittances how does more outward immigration benefits India other than creating more Suella Bravermans or Jagmeet Singhs or Dinesh dsouza's or bobby jindals or Ro Khannas or pamila jaypals?

Indian trade deal in peril after Suella Braverman migrant comments

Liz Truss’s flagship trade deal with India is on the “verge of collapse” after Indian ministers reacted furiously to comments by Suella Braverman criticising migrants from their country.

Last week the home secretary said she had “concerns” about the trade deal because it would increase migration to the UK and Indians represented the largest group of visa overstayers.

She told The Spectator magazine: “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country — the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

The comments sparked a furious reaction from Indian government ministers and officials, sources from both governments have told The Times.

A source in Delhi said they were “shocked and disappointed” by the “disrespectful” remarks.

Indian government sources said the “relationship has taken a step back” following Braverman’s comments, adding: “There’s still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the government it will paralyse the talks”. They said Truss should publicly “disassociate” herself from Braverman’s words if she wanted to revive the deal.

Delhi is demanding more work and study visas for its citizens, including a new visa that would emulate agreements struck with Australia and New Zealand that allow under-35s to live in the UK for up to three years. The enhanced terms for Indian migrants are referred to as “mobility” in talks.

A senior UK government source said: “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else — financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask. And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask.”

A UK government source who has spoken to Indian officials involved in the trade negotiations said: “They were apoplectic. Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how angry they are.”

Truss had hoped to agree to the trade deal by Diwali on October 24, although the timetable had been doubtful, with one UK government source saying only 40 per cent of the chapters of the trade deal had been finalised.

The prime minister, who helped to negotiate the initial stages of the India trade deal, is said to view the agreement as a central legacy of her foreign policy. Some Conservative MPs have accused Braverman of sabotaging the trade deal to further her own leadership ambitions. One MP loyal to the government said: “Suella knew exactly what she was doing.”

However, a Home Office source insisted that Braverman and Truss were aligned on concerns about higher immigration. They said: “The reality is that of course immigration forms part of every single trade negotiation but it’s very clear that the prime minister and home secretary are very united on this and approaching it in the same direction.”

[kit]

Good to see India pushing back but i dont get why Indian govt insists on immigration and not any tangible benefits to India itself like technology transfers or more investments in India or market access to Indian business products . Apart from remittances how does more outward immigration benefits India other than creating more Suella Bravermans or Jagmeet Singhs or Dinesh dsouza's or bobby jindals or Ro Khannas or pamila jaypals?

Indian trade deal in peril after Suella Braverman migrant comments



The prime minister, who helped to negotiate the initial stages of the India trade deal, is said to view the agreement as a central legacy of her foreign policy. Some Conservative MPs have accused Braverman of sabotaging the trade deal to further her own leadership ambitions. One MP loyal to the government said: “Suella knew exactly what she was doing.”

However, a Home Office source insisted that Braverman and Truss were aligned on concerns about higher immigration. They said: “The reality is that of course immigration forms part of every single trade negotiation but it’s very clear that the prime minister and home secretary are very united on this and approaching it in the same direction.”

[/quote]

Goes on to prove Truss has no personal stance on "any matter" and is easily swayed. UKies are still reeling under her chancellor's antics. When Truss goes under and this is by now only a question of when., Braverman would have something to hold up to show "leadership"

Rishi has taken the higher ground as calls for "bring Rishi" back become shriller.

[Cyrano]

Truss was Trade Minister under BoJo before becoming foreign minister. Her accomplishments as TM are zero.
While Scholz is making a trip to China to improve trade relations, Truss has declared China as a "threat".

Very soon there won't be any point of having a FTA with a bankrupt UK and when no one is interested to go there anymore, the mobility issue will not matter.

[sanjaykumar]

^^ it is not only India that has been sensitised to Pakistani born visitors.

A pleasant Catholic born in Karachi related once how her little kids and she were stopped at the US border with Canada and then subjected to an exhaustive search. Including their car.

It definitely wasn’t because she was brown, border security is always professional and courteous otherwise. Apparently they look at place of birth on the passport and don’t care about anything else. I can’t even blame them. Same with India.

[shravanp]

Truss was Trade Minister under BoJo before becoming foreign minister. Her accomplishments as TM are zero.
While Scholz is making a trip to China to improve trade relations, Truss has declared China as a "threat".

Very soon there won't be any point of having a FTA with a bankrupt UK and when no one is interested to go there anymore, the mobility issue will not matter.

From what I have read Britain still has unfathomable stolen and hoarded amounts of gold, wealth from history. So despite all this media biz of UK economy going down, they still would have plentiful reserves if I am not mistaken?

[Cyrano]

Wealth is just different forms of assets ( RE, Gold, metals, cattle and sheep, commodities, food stocks, petroleum... basically anything that someone else wants. In such forms wealth is very inflexible, unwieldy ie not easily useable and does not join the flow of economic activity. But valued and traded in a currency they can become more liquid. Wealth reserves must be "valued" in currency and then they can be tapped into, traded, spent, leveraged to raise debt etc etc using currency.

The currency issuance is a sovereign privilege of a country, and is managed by a central bank. If the (political, economic, military, social...) stability and prospects of a country are uncertain the currency loses value and no one will want to hold that currency to trade in real assets using it.

Of course there is a lot more to it, but to put it simply, Wealth is a lake, currency is a mug to make the lake water useable. If the mug is leaking then no one wants such mugs from the lake keeper ie central bank.

[kit]

Truss was Trade Minister under BoJo before becoming foreign minister. Her accomplishments as TM are zero.
While Scholz is making a trip to China to improve trade relations, Truss has declared China as a "threat".

Very soon there won't be any point of having a FTA with a bankrupt UK and when no one is interested to go there anymore, the mobility issue will not matter.

From what I have read Britain still has unfathomable stolen and hoarded amounts of gold, wealth from history. So despite all this media biz of UK economy going down, they still would have plentiful reserves if I am not mistaken?

those gold hoards have left brit land long back and ended up in American hands., not for nothing the British and American financial systems are joined at the hip. What else explains a "powerful currency" with a second-rate economy "punching above their weight" etc

[chetak]

From what I have read Britain still has unfathomable stolen and hoarded amounts of gold, wealth from history. So despite all this media biz of UK economy going down, they still would have plentiful reserves if I am not mistaken?

those gold hoards have left brit land long back and ended up in American hands., not for nothing the British and American financial systems are joined at the hip. What else explains a "powerful currency" with a second-rate economy "punching above their weight" etc

much of the earlier colonial loot ended up in private coffers.

what was with the britshit govt presumably got drained in the aftermath of WWII.

and like you said, a lot of it was paid to the ameriki companies for the ameriki "aid" during the war.

truman, followed by eisenhower played a very smart game in cutting "great" britain to size, effectively draining the britshit resources and conclusively ending the britshit empire.

today, the britshits have been reduced to a vassal state and they effectively remain a colony of the ameriki empire

[g.sarkar]

The ruling class of United Kingdom and the US, used to be the same. Both had the same language, followed similar Christian faith, and intermarried regularly. Many US presidents have English roots, this is often reported in newspapers. One example I can give is Winston S. Churchill. That S stands for Spencer, and remember the last name of Diana was Spencer. Churchill's father was an aristocrat that married a rich American lady, and that was the norm those days. Impoverished British aristocrats with titles married rich Americans. The British colonies generated a huge amount of excess wealth (you may call that loot) that was quickly invested in the US, which was developing and needed capital for its projects. For exploitation of India by the British, please read: India Today by R.P. Dutt (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dl ... 9/mode/1up). This book was never published in India for obvious reasons. Things changed after WWII, when both Great Britain and France lost their colonies and the US become the super power. This loss was not caused by the US, but they had a hand in facilitating it.
Gautam

[kit]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60894743

In the early hours of 24 March, Filippo Osella flew into India's southern city of Trivandrum from London on a routine research trip to India.

Prof Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, had been visiting India on work for more than 30 years.

The South Asian specialist had spent much of that time in the state of Kerala, of which Trivandrum is the capital. This time Prof Osella was to mainly attend a two-day meeting on the seafaring communities of the state. He and local meteorological scientists had been developing early warning weather forecasts to secure the lives of millions of fishermen.

But this time a rude shock awaited him.

Minutes after the plane landed, the 65-year-old was whisked away to immigration. There, officials took his photograph and fingerprints and told him that he would be deported back to the UK immediately - a highly unusual fate for a respected academic whose research is partly funded by the UK government.

So what is this brit up to to earn the title " in the highest category of blacklist" ??

[g.sarkar]

Deporting an old gora of 65, whose research is funded by the Raaj. That is just not cricket. When will these natives learn? When will they become civilized?
https://www.livelaw.in/amp/news-updates ... artIndex=1
Centre Defends Deportation Of UK Anthropologist Filippo Osella Before Delhi High Court, Says It Has Sufficient Material To Blacklist Him
Nupur Thapliyal, 2022-10-12
The Centre on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that there was sufficient material to blacklist and take action of deportation against renowned UK Anthropologist and social scientist Filippo Osella.
Osella is the Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the Department of Anthropology, School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK. He was deported from Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala on March 23. In August, he filed a petition seeking records related to his deportation and quashing of the same.
While listing the matter for hearing on February 23, 2023, Justice Yashwant Varma granted four weeks' time to the Central Government for filing a counter affidavit on Osella's plea challenging his deportation.
The counsel appearing for Central Government on instructions submitted that Osella was at the "highest category" of blacklisting.
The respondents in the plea are Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bureau of Immigration (MHA) and FRRO, Trivandram.
.....
Gautam

[Cyrano]

Since when did anthropologists develop expertise to build weather forecasting systems?
His bio says "Filippo Osella is Professor of Anthropology And South Asian Studies at University of Sussex, UK. He has conducted extensive research in Kerala (South India), as well as in Sri Lanka, and in Gulf Cooperation Council countries such as UAE, Oman and Qatar." Thats enough to set off alarms.

[Dilbu]

Kerala (South India)

This 'South India' thing is another attempt at subversion. Like how bakis use South Asia when they don't want to name India.

[Lisa]

The quicker we understand that a visa for a ghora is a right, not a privilege. He is doing us a favour with helping us civilize. Now move on!

[Manish_P]

..
His bio says "Filippo Osella is Professor of Anthropology And South Asian Studies at University of Sussex, UK. He has conducted extensive research in Kerala (South India), as well as in Sri Lanka, and in Gulf Cooperation Council countries such as UAE, Oman and Qatar." Thats enough to set off alarms.

This -

..he has recently begun fieldwork in coastal Kerala on artisanal fishers’ attitudes towards risk across the whole range of their activities, and on the role of the Catholic church in supporting fishers’ political and social mobilization.

From here - Interview with Filippo Osella - April 3, 2019. University of Toronto
Victoria Sheldon

[Cyrano]

Jeez, what a boat load of manure produced by selective application of a divisive colonial template. I mean who the hell cares for such studies except a small incestuous academia and BIFs seeking to create fault lines and exploit them?

In top of that he is likely involved in the recent protests against ports led by the church we discussed here a few weeks ago.

[IndraD]

BREAKING: Officials at No. 10 and the Treasury are discussing how they can U-turn on Liz Truss’s plans for a massive unfunded package of tax cuts https://trib.al/YVOAZQH https://twitter.com/BloombergUK/status/ ... jEe9Y0zKHA

secret meeting (so secret that Bloomberg knows) underway at PM residence to U turn tax cuts

[la.khan]

BREAKING: Officials at No. 10 and the Treasury are discussing how they can U-turn on Liz Truss’s plans for a massive unfunded package of tax cuts https://trib.al/YVOAZQH https://twitter.com/BloombergUK/status/ ... jEe9Y0zKHA

secret meeting (so secret that Bloomberg knows) underway at PM residence to U turn tax cuts

I thought the Truss government made a U-turn already. Those tax breaks were withdrawn in less than 3-4 days. No?

[Dilbu]

Want "Even Stronger" India Trade Ties: UK Damage Control Amid Migrants Row

London: British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday Britain wanted to have an even stronger trading relationship with India after reports that remarks by a fellow minister about Indian immigrants could put a future deal in doubt. Asked about the comments made by interior minister Suella Braverman about Indian migrants in Britain and the possible impact, Cleverly said: "We do want to have an even stronger, and it's strong already, but an even stronger trading relationship with India."

[la.khan]

Want "Even Stronger" India Trade Ties: UK Damage Control Amid Migrants Row

London: British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday Britain wanted to have an even stronger trading relationship with India after reports that remarks by a fellow minister about Indian immigrants could put a future deal in doubt. Asked about the comments made by interior minister Suella Braverman about Indian migrants in Britain and the possible impact, Cleverly said: "We do want to have an even stronger, and it's strong already, but an even stronger trading relationship with India."

What kind of trading relationship the Brishits want? My guess is English East India Company 2.0 And, there are enough turncoats in India to make it happen. Just like the previous version

[hnair]

lady Sewerella (or is it Suarella?) might be balking and talking, but our “People’s Republic of Kerala” have already sent the tallest Komarade Kommissar yonder and clinched this sub-national deal:

FB post

Translation: “By grace of St Marx, We have signed agreement with albionese govt for allowing smooth human traffic of our nurses to serve the NHS and take care of all those retired shop-keepers by leaving behind their own parents. Please send money-orders anytime because we don’t have bank holidays, only hartals”

[kit]

i personally know one guy in that Facebook post mentioned above., will need to find out if the agreement is with a particular NHS trust or the whole of UK that seems quite unlikely. I think this is just an agreement of GOK with NHS trust Yorkshire and Humber. The guy in question , a doctor runs a HR agency recruiting nurses. , makes good business proposition for those involved.

[hnair]

I already got clarification on what this means etc from sources who are doing damage control: this is just a fluff piece PR, since outflow of nurses has been accelerating since 2019. But point is this CMO post (which is as official as it gets) still claims “agreement between UK and Kerala” in the first para. That is a loaded statement.

Your friend or his opinion on this does not matter, clarification has to come from either MEA or CMO (who made this statement).

[gakakkad]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60894743

In the early hours of 24 March, Filippo Osella flew into India's southern city of Trivandrum from London on a routine research trip to India.

Prof Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, had been visiting India on work for more than 30 years.

The South Asian specialist had spent much of that time in the state of Kerala, of which Trivandrum is the capital. This time Prof Osella was to mainly attend a two-day meeting on the seafaring communities of the state. He and local meteorological scientists had been developing early warning weather forecasts to secure the lives of millions of fishermen.

But this time a rude shock awaited him.

Minutes after the plane landed, the 65-year-old was whisked away to immigration. There, officials took his photograph and fingerprints and told him that he would be deported back to the UK immediately - a highly unusual fate for a respected academic whose research is partly funded by the UK government.

So what is this brit up to to earn the title " in the highest category of blacklist" ??

so an anthropologist claiming to do do meteorological research? even a paaki could come up with a better cover id

[hnair]

gakakkad…. Good to see you back, doc. Incase you haven’t, Google for “Vizhinjam protests church” to figure out why anthro-meteorologist wants be around my neck of woods.

Summary: If a polar bear scratches its furry cold arse in Antarctica, it is blamed on evil Adani’s port project at Vizhinjam and its demonic 800m long breakwater

[KL Dubey]

Good to see India pushing back but i dont get why Indian govt insists on immigration and not any tangible benefits to India itself like technology transfers or more investments in India or market access to Indian business products . Apart from remittances how does more outward immigration benefits India other than creating more Suella Bravermans or Jagmeet Singhs or Dinesh dsouza's or bobby jindals or Ro Khannas or pamila jaypals?

Immigration is different from temporary stay visa. Dumbass media conflates the two in news headlines, leading to confusion.

India is not requesting to send more immigrants over to settle in UK. We are requesting more work and study visas that offer more mobility to the holder.

This is exactly the approach we should be taking - helping more of our workforce to acquire knowledge and skills in "the west" and come back a few years later to benefit our economy. When a workforce with superior training - compatible with western standards - is available in India, not only does it benefit domestic industry but also foreign investments come in droves.

This moron Suella should read the statistics...only 4% of Indians "overstay their visas" in the UK, compared to others with much higher overstay rates.

[KL Dubey]

Summary: If a polar bear scratches its furry cold arse in Antarctica...

That would be the day especially since there ain't no polah bears in Antarctica. Surely such a bear would have been smuggled from N pole to S pole on an Adani ship.

[sanjaykumar]

Okay, if a penguin does it in the arctic.