"Undergraduates Welcome": UK Minister Explains Visa Rule Changes

UK's Deputy Foreign Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad, who is on a four-day visit to India, has said the tweak in UK visa rules is not aimed at undergraduate students from India. His government, he said, has benefitted from Indian students and the recent visa curbs are only for students who come for one year's research and doctoral studies.

"Those students who come for undergraduate studies and research will always be welcomed," Lord Ahmad told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"We have tweaked visa rules for research and PhD students who come only for one year and sometimes don't complete their research," said Lord Ahmad, whose visit marks a positive note in India-UK relations after the controversy over pro-Khalistan protests.

"Britain benefits from legal immigration and only wants to stop illegal immigration. Most students are from India. We want more students," added the minister, who is in Delhi today to meet Foreign minister S Jaishankar and senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry.

Lord Ahmad's visit to India will focus on the deepening collaboration on science and technology between the two nations. For this, a special visit to Hyderabad has been planned where they will look into innovations in start-ups.

It also throws light on a second minister of UK with strong Indian roots, after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Lord Tariq Ahmad, who is the Baron of Wimbeldon, began his four-day visit from Rajasthan's Jodhpur, from where his mother migrated 76 years ago to Pakistan and then England.  It was a poignant moment for the 55 year-old.

"It is very difficult to describe my feelings. Today I'm visiting this palace -- my grandfather was a treasurer in the court of Maharaja Umaid Singh. His father Ahmed Khan was a physician who also had links to the royal court," he said.

To reach one of the highest offices in the UK has not been easy for the family.

Lord Ahmad's father had reached England from Gurdaspur In Punjab with only five pounds in his pocket. As a young immigrant, he had to work on railroads to make ends meet, but he continued to educate himself and better the family's prospects.

Lord Ahmad said it is a matter of pride for him that today, he sits in the India office founded in 1858 by the colonial British government to rule the provinces of India through its Viceroys.