UK for special relationship with India

The leaders of Britain’s new coalition government on Thursday announced a sweeping five-year programme of action, including a pledge to build a “special relationship” with India while placing a cap on the number of Indian and other skilled migrants from outside Europe.

The leaders of Britain’s new coalition government on Thursday announced a sweeping five-year programme of action, including a pledge to build a “special relationship” with India while placing a cap on the number of Indian and other skilled migrants from outside Europe.

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The agreement, launched jointly by Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, is a selection from the election pledges made by the two coalition parties – the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

“We will work to establish a new ‘special relationship’ with India and seek closer engagement with China, while standing firm on human rights in all our bilateral relationships,” said the coalition agreement. Building a ‘special relationship’ was part of the Conservative election manifesto, but it mentioned China separately in the context of human rights.

The programme endorses the Conservative policy of supporting permanent seats on the UN Security Council for India, Japan, Germany, Brazil and African representation.

On immigration, it says, “We will introduce an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work.”