E-Paper
Looking forward to seeing Vijay Mallya back home, India tells UK
India and the UK discussed the extradition case of Vijay Mallya, and the issue of Britain’s Sikhs planning to impose a ban on the entry of Indian officials in gurdwaras.
India’s minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju met the UK’s security minister Ben Wallace on Thursday and appreciated the Theresa May government’s cooperation in the ongoing extradition case of controversial Indian businessman Vijay Mallya.
“We look forward to seeing him in India,” Rijiju told Wallace during the meeting that also discussed the issue of a section of Britain’s Sikh community planning to impose a ban on the entry of Indian officials in gurdwaras in their official capacity.
The Westminster magistrates’ court was due to resume hearing in the Mallya case on Thursday. The case is in its closing stages after several days of hearing in December 2017. The judge is expected to announce a timetable for pronouncing judgment.
Rijiju was also scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding on Thursday evening on the issue of exchange of criminal records of individuals between the two countries, and the return of illegal migrants, which is a key issue in relations between the two countries.
“Prime Minister Theresa May said norms for legal migration of Indians will be improved if the return of illegal migrants is speeded up. We have agreed to do this, it is now up to the British government to improve the visa offer to Indians,” a senior official said.
May had flagged the issue during her 2016 visit to New Delhi: “(The) UK will consider further improvements to our visa offer if at the same time we can step up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain in the UK”.
Data on Indians staying illegally in the UK are not released, but Home Office officials believe that Indians are one of the top nationalities living in the UK illegally, and estimate their number to be over 100,000.
