Brexit may be good news for Indians in UK

Can Brexit open up new areas of opportunity for India and the UK? While it might still be too early to predict how things will pan out between India and the United Kingdom, they don’t look as bleak for India as they do for the EU.

In fact, if UKIP (UK Independent Party) leader Nigel Farage is anyone to go by, Indians might find the UK more welcoming. In a recent interview he was quoted as saying, “I have to confess I do have a slight preference. I do think, naturally, that people from India and Australia are in some ways more likely to speak English, understand common law and have a connection with this country than some people that come perhaps from countries that haven’t fully recovered from being behind the Iron Curtain.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a press conference in London last year that India considered the United Kingdom to be a gateway to Europe, indicating his preference for the ‘Remain’ camp. But the ‘Leave’ verdict could give India, the third largest investor in the UK, greater operating room in a country with which India has shared a historically warm relationship.

Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta is among those who believe that India should utilise the opportunity to forge a more meaningful partnerships with Britain.