M A I N   N E W S

UK to let in 20,000 Indians every year: Report

London, February 20
Indians may get up to 20,000 UK visas a year under a deal it is negotiating with the European Union and in return India has put forward an annual £4-billion trade with the EU, media reported today.

Under the proposed deal, Britain will have to accept thousands of workers in exchange for potentially lucrative export deals, despite figures showing that the number of unemployed in the UK stood at 2.5 million, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Negotiations for the EU-India free trade agreement have seen New Delhi lobbying for between 35,000 and 50,000 visas a year across the 27-member states, the report said.

The report said Indians wanted Britain to give between 15,000 and 20,000 visas to its citizens every year.

Only highly-skilled workers would be eligible for the visas. Under the deal, Britain is predicted to win about half of the proposed £4-billion trade, providing a significant boost to exports.

If the European Union accepts the plan spearheaded by Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the EU Commission, it would be the first time power over migration from outside the EU had been handed to Brussels, the report said. — PTI