Ahead of her visit to India from November 6 to 8, British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on phone, even as earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs virtually dismissed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s view that Britain apologise for the atrocities committed during the British colonial rule over India, saying, the discussions with PM Theresa May would be “forward-looking”.
The MEA also did not give a direct answer whether the contentious issue of return of the Kohinoor diamond would be discussed during the visit. But New Delhi on Thursday raised concerns “that in the last 5 years or so, the number of Indian students enrolling in UK Universities have gone down by almost 50 percent from around 40,000 to about 20,000 now... because of restrictions on post-study stay in the UK”, saying “we expect mobility issues to be raised during the visit”.
Government sources on Thursday said, “British Prime Minister made a telephone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The two Prime Ministers exchanged greetings on the occasion of the festival of Diwali, celebrated recently. Both leaders agreed that there is substantial scope for further strengthening bilateral cooperation across a range of sectors, including science & technology, finance, trade & investment, and Defence & security. The Prime Minister said that he is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister May in India next week, which will be her first substantive bilateral visit outside Europe.”
The MEA on Thursday said, “PM of UK Theresa May would be visiting India during 6-8 November 2016. This is her first bilateral visit outside the EU. She will hold bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi. She along with PM Modi will inaugurate the India-UK tech summit on November 7 in New Delhi. The decision to hold the India-UK Tech Summit was agreed to during the visit of our Prime Minister to UK in November 2015.”
