Modi’s UK Visit 2015
Until 2012, PM Modi was barred from entering the UK over Gujarat riots. The Ban was lifted as Modi becomes PM of India. The November 2015 visit came in the backdrop of various protests carrying placards like ‘Hindutva is threat to Indian unity’, ‘Modi not welcome in UK‘ and ‘Stop religious persecution in India’.
Despite the protests by some groups the PM was given warm welcome in UK.PM was even be given a guard of honor, a privilege ordinarily reserved only for heads of state. Various agreements were signed as listed here.
Significance of Recent Visit
Currently, UK is the largest European investor in India, and India is the second largest investor in the UK. Indian students are the second-largest group in Britain. Moreover in the last five years, Cameron has visited India thrice since becoming prime minister in 2010. Despite three visits by Mr. Cameron to India in the past five years, the U.K.’s and India’s shares in each other’s exports, both goods and services, have steadily declined, and bilateral trade at $14 billion falls far short of their $30-billion goal announced in 2010.
Further Chinese President Xi Jinping’s successful visit to the UK last month resulted in two nations signing £40 billion worth of contracts, including for the project to build a nuclear power station in Britain. In one of the most significant shifts in British foreign policy in decades, the UK is trying to position itself as a key partner of China in Europe.
Modi, therefore, timely recognized it was time for him to reciprocate Cameron’s visits in India considering the fact that this is the first visit by an Indian PM to the UK since 2006.
This visit was also significant in tapping the untapped trade potential between two countries. Both the countries sealed £9-billion worth of commercial deals in the retail, logistics, energy, finance, IT, education and health sectors. Even HDFC realizing the growing depth and closeness between India and United Kingdom decided to list the rupee denominated overseas bonds (masala bonds) on the London Stock Exchange. Progressively London will be the centre for off-shore rupee trading with the launch of 1-billion worth of bonds, including the first rupee-denominated bond.
Prime Minister also highlighted India’s plan to use London as a financial base for fundraising and the launch of railway rupee bond in London. This will help railways improve its balance sheets, raise resources to improve passenger amenities, modernize coaches and increase the connectivity across length and breadth of the country. Therefore United Kingdom can help in Make in India , smart city development , renewable energy and nurturing the ever increasing start-ups in the country.
His outreach to the Indian Diaspora also signaled the power of the British-Indian community in the UK politics. More significantly, Modi has made the relationship more forward-looking. He made an attempt to lay the legacy of Britain’s imperial past to rest when he suggested that “the soil of London” had given birth to India’s “freedom struggle”, referring to India’s numerous freedom fighters who studied in the UK.
However according to various experts this visit falls short on various dimensions. Serious issues over trade, taxes and visas that have put a considerable strain on the economic relationship have not been given due consideration. There was little to show that the problems of easing business regulations for British companies, and relaxing immigration and visa norms for Indian companies, professionals and students, have been resolved. The two sides made little visible progress on strategic and defense issues, no mention was made of the big-ticket defense deals that had been spoken of prior to the visit. Further the civil nuclear agreement announced is only the natural conclusion of the treaty declared in 2010, and on which negotiations were launched in 2014.
Nevertheless Modi’s visit has managed to successfully put India-UK ties back on track and to redefine the terms of the relationship when India is no longer a supplicant but an emerging power. It’ll be now up to the two nations to build on its success.
