Arun Jaitley visited the UK from Friday 24th till Tuesday 28th, to represent the Indian government and PM Narendra Modi for the launch of UK-India Year of Culture at the Buckingham Palace. He has been accompanied by Pankaj R Patel, President, FICCI and CMD, Zydus Camila Healthcare, leading a CEOs delegation. Besides attending the reception hosted by Her Majesty Elizabeth II on Monday 27 February, he spoke at a gathering in the London School of Economics, organised by the LSE South Asia Centre and High Commission of India, as a part of their 100 Foot Journey Club initiative. This discussion was held at the historical George Bernard Shaw room, which had paintings of all LSE directors on their walls, including that of Mr IG Patel who was also the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Besides a private dinner with some key personalities at London's famous Gymkhana restaurant on Saturday night, on Sunday he visited the new Lalit Hotel to an evening hosted by the FICCI, to celebrate the year of culture.
On Monday, the Finance Minister opened the trading market at the London Stock Exchange. This was followed by a round-table with delegates from the FICCI, FinTech companies and leading investors to discuss London’s significant role as a partner to India, supporting the country to develop its FinTech ecosystem and deliver key Indian priorities like infrastructure development, sustainable energy investment and the growth of smart cities. The Minister then attended a Q&A organised by the UKIBC at the St James' Hotel and launched the 70 year celebrations by the Indian Journalists' Association. He met the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at a later meeting and then headed off to the gala reception at the Buckingham Palace.
On Tuesday he attended an investors' meeting at the JP Morgan Head Quarter, followed by an afternoon with the Chancellor Philip Hammond. He discussed development strategies, relationship between Bank of England and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), demonetisation and other subjects. This was followed by a meeting organised by the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) with CEOs of UK industries who are doing business in India or are interested to do business in India.
What did the Minister speak about?
During his, while interacting with members of audience at various gatherings stated above as well as press, the Minister touched upon the subject of demonetisation, Indo-UK relationship post Brexit, Goods and Service Tax (GST), India's open economy v/s other State Protectionism, Competitive Federalism between the States of India, importance of foreign students in the UK, opening up India to foreign universities, freedom of speech in Indian universities and extradition possibility of businessman Vijay Mallya, where Indian High commission is in talks with the Home Office.
Speaking at the London School of Economics about Brexit, he said, "In our discussions with the government of UK what we have understood is that they are keen to send a message that there will be no move towards any form of protectionism. As for expanding the nature of economic relations between our two countries, that can take place after Article 50 is invoked, Brexit negotiations are complete and the UK is legally entitled to enter into other negotiations.”
At the Taj hotel press conference, he elaborated, “There is a considerable interest in India after Brexit. Both investors and the government here are looking for expanding trade with India. India has been a very important story to tell, given the slowing economy in the world, unlike in India, so the Indian government has been taking decisions without wavering…”
Speaking on the subject of 'Transforming India: Vision for the Next Decade', the minister said India was standing "at a point of history" where the country as a whole becoming "more and more aspirational".
"The global economy continues to face its own challenges. Any slow growth in the world impacts us also...but 7-8% growth rate is the new Indian norm and if we get the support of the global economy, that figure has a scope of shooting up.”
Describing the recent demonetisation the smoothest currency replacement process he stressed that 'digital economy' could be a key to the GDP growth and rural development. "This will help us in not borrowing, we will not leave the next generation in debt. We aim to electrify villages by 2018, build 'pucca' road by 2019, and aim to finish housing by 2022."
The students present in the audience raised a number of questions, including the Director of the South Asia centre, Mukulika Banerjee.
Addressing questions from students, the Minister described India emerging as an important "brain bank". "I am no longer willing to settle for slogans like Indians for India alone. Terms like brain drain were a subject when I was in college. Today Indians are dominating various economies of the world and one of our major points of global discussions today is about the movement of human resource," he said.
Speaking about importance of Indian students to the UK economy and the decrease in number coming to the UK, he told the PTI, “They (the UK) have to realise that when international students come here (Britain), they subsidise the educational costs here...
“We already have a reality where the quantum of students coming into the UK is declining and other jurisdictions are available. The UK also is a part of the competitive market in that area.”
Importance of the visit
Speaking about the visit, Nikhil Rathi, CEO, London Stock Exchange plc said: “Minister Jaitley’s second visit to the UK in a year underlines the success of the business and financial partnership between the UK...2016 was a tremendous year for Masala bonds in London, with the Indian corporate Masala bond market launching in London with HDFC’s landmark bond issuance in July 2016, cementing London Stock Exchange’s clear position as the leading global venue for offshore Rupee denominated fundraising.
“India’s growth trajectory is truly remarkable, with the highest growth rate among the G20 economies and the Minister’s Union Budget announced earlier this month will only spur this on. With the depth, liquidity, multi-currency and profile of London’s markets, together with the UK remaining the largest G20 investor in India, London Stock Exchange is ideally suited to partner with India in this extraordinary growth story to deliver key Indian priorities like infrastructure development, sustainable energy investment and the growth of smart cities.”
Dr Liam Fox MP, UK Secretary of State for International Trade said: “The UK-India investment relationship is hugely important. India is now the third largest investor and second largest job creator in the UK; the UK is the largest G20 investor in India and plays an important role in building skills in the Indian workforce.
“The UK Government is committed to deepening this relationship further and in my first months as Secretary of State for International Trade, I’ve been lucky enough to visit India twice - most recently accompanying the Prime Minister on her first bilateral visit outside Europe, as well as her first trade delegation.
“In the words of Prime Minister Modi, India and the UK are an ‘unbeatable partnership’. And I’m very glad that our Prime Ministers recently committed to ‘building the closest possible commercial and economic relationship’.”
