The issue of the overstaying of “certain individuals” wanted by India was raised over the past two days, including with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, during meetings held between Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and senior cabinet members in the U.K. While discussions did not name individuals, it was a clear reference to India’s bid to push for the extradition of Vijay Mallya.
Mr. Jaitley was not scheduled to meet with Mrs. May, who dropped in on his meeting on Wednesday afternoon with Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.
Other issues discussed with Mr. Hammond and the Prime Minister include follow up Mrs. May’s visit to India last November, including plans to establish an India-UK Sub Fund under the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, which will leverage private sector investment in London to fund infrastructure projects in India, as well as the economic and financial dialogue due to take place later this year. The Prime Minister was eager to stress that independently of Brexit, India-UK relations were on an upward path. The previous day Mr. Jaitley met Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, during which meeting the extradition issue was also raised.
Mr. Jaitley has been on a five day visit to the U.K. which has combined the launch of the India-UK year of culture - and a grand reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth - with meetings with politicians, business leaders and investors, focusing on India’s reform agenda, including demonetization and the planned introduction of GST later this year. In public remarks Mr. Jaitley has contrasted India’s opening up with the protectionist direction of much of the rest of the world, though has insisted that Brexit was not part of this protectionist drive, and that Britain was eager to strengthen trade relations with India and beyond.
During the course of his visit Mr. Jaitley has made a number of indirect references to India’s hopes of successfully bringing back Mr. Mallya, stressing that India took the issue of defaulters “very seriously’ and would lend “full support to financial institutions to recover up to their last pie.”
India began the formal process of seeking the extradition of Mr. Mallya earlier this month, with documents handed over both in New Delhi and London. The extradition request would have to pass through the U.K. courts, though it is understood there is the political will in the U.K. government to provide support on this to the extent possible.
Britain’s willingness to support the extradition of Mr. Mallya would be seen as a strong gesture of goodwill towards India. Hopes are relatively high, given last year’s extradition of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, the first extradition to have taken place from the U.K. since the establishment of an extradition treaty in 1993.