07 September 2023 , 21:30
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Rishi Sunak has insisted he will not hand out more visas in a bid to get a trade deal with India over the line.
The PM has got on plane to New Delhi where he will hold talks with world leaders at a G20 summit. But hopes that he would use the visit to strike a free trade agreement with the rapidly growing economy have disappeared.
Mr Sunak is joined on the trip by his wife Akshata Murthy, who is the daughter of Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy.
His visit will be his first to the country since he took office last year. The PM’s spokesman last night said: “As the first British Prime Minister of Indian descent, his visit will be an historic moment and a powerful reminder of the living bridge which exists between our two countries. As the largest democracy and third biggest economy in Asia, India is an indispensable partner for the UK.”
The members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, as well as the EU.
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Will the PM get a trade deal?
The UK is hoping to make progress on a trade deal with India that would slash tariffs on whisky and car exports and give British companies access to its huge financial and legal services market. An agreement was due to have been signed by October last year ahead of Diwali, but negotiations stalled. Things have been looking more positive lately with India’s commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal saying in July that the two sides wanted to “finalise the deal at the earliest” opportunity. He insisted that almost all the most contentious issues were settled and predicted it would be signed “well before” the end of this year. Tory MPs have raised concerns that Mr Sunak could relax visa rules in return for a deal.
The PM’s spokesman last night insisted he is “committed to concluding a free trade agreement with India which delivers for the British people”. Asked about possible changes to student visas, he said: "The Prime Minister has been clear he believes that the current levels of migration are too high… To be crystal clear, there are no plans to change our immigration policy to achieve this free trade agreement. That includes student visas." But the official indicated an expansion business visas would potentially be considered. Mr Sunak will meet India’s PM Narendra Modi on Friday, but a deal is not expected to be finalised. It is thought he could return to sign an agreement later this year.
Will Vladimir Putin be there?
Russia is still a member of the G20 but Vladimir Putin has chosen not to attend the event and will send his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov instead. No10 has pledged that Mr Sunak will use every opportunity to remind him “to his face of the incredible damage their illegal war is causing both in Ukraine and globally”. The UK will announce plans to host an international food summit later this year as the world deals with the consequences of Russia’s decision in July to withdraw from a deal that had allowed ships carrying Ukrainian grain to leave Black Sea ports without fear of attack. RAF aircraft will also conduct surveillance flights to deter Russia from carrying out illegal strikes against civilian vessels..
Mr Sunak last night said: “Once again, Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20. He is the architect of his own diplomatic exile, isolating himself in his presidential palace and blocking out criticism and reality. The rest of the G20, meanwhile, are demonstrating that we will turn up and work together to pick up the pieces of Putin’s destruction.” Downing Street has said Mr Sunak will use his meeting with the Indian PM, who has remained neutral on the issue of Ukraine, to use his “influence to bring an end to the brutal invasion”.
What about China?
Chinese President Xi Jinping has also decided not to attend the gathering and will send his PM Li Qiang instead. Downing Street has not yet said whether Mr Sunak will hold one-on-one talks with him during the summit. It comes a week after James Cleverly made the first visit to Beijing by a British Foreign Secretary in more than five years. Despite clashes over human rights abuses, Hong Kong and cyber attacks, Mr Sunak has taken a less hostile approach to China than his recent predecessors and insisted diplomatic relations are needed to deal with issues including climate change and Artificial Intelligence. But former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has compared the current approach to the appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Will the PM visit his in-laws?
No10 has said that the couple will not see family members while there and will not meet representatives from Infosys, the massive IT firm founded by her father. Mr Sunak and his wife are the richest inhabitants of Downing Street in history with an estimated £520milllion fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Much of their wealth is thanks to the stake worth hundreds of millions of pounds that Ms Murthy holds in Infosys. The PM’s wife will join him on some parts of the trip including a visit to an after-school club in New Delhi. She will also join the special programme put on for world leaders’ spouses, which will include being shown by women farmers how millet is grown and harvested. Mr Sunak’s parents are both of Indian descent but were actually born in East Africa. His relatives still in India are planning an all-night party with dancing to celebrate his arrival, although the PM will not attend himself.
What is this about a booze ban?
Delegates face a ban on alcohol as Indian police try to minimise the risk of disruption. Bars, restaurants and off licences in the area of New Delhi close to the summit venue have been ordered to either close or stop serving alcohol for the duration of the three-day summit. The decision has led to panic-buying by locals in recent days. Mr Sunak is teetotal so is unlikely to find the booze ban a problem.
And fake monkeys?
Organisers are worried about monkeys creating a nuisance for the world leaders and their teams. New Delhi’s notoriously mischievous population of rhesus macaques are found across the capital running across roads and occasionally attacking pedestrians. Life-size cut-outs of larger langur monkeys designed to scare off the macaques have been put outside places such as hotels. A team of men have also been hired to imitate the sound of langurs. The authorities have left food for the monkeys in nearby forest areas to encourage them to remain there instead of loitering in the city.
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