Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised concerns about the visa regime for non-EU students, during bilateral talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the first day of his visit to London.

The issue was raised “very strong” during the morning bilateral talks between the two leaders and their delegations, an MEA spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister actually said that we are right now in a situation where countries are actually wooing Indian students because India is the biggest education market today,” they said. They noted that in the past three years the number of Indian students coming to the UK had fallen by 50 per cent.

“There was a lot of understanding and appreciation, but this is an issue that is a matter for continued discussion. I don not think we closed the chapter on this.”

The issue of student visas has overshadowed Modi’s visit to the UK. Britain changed its rules governing student visas in 2011, ending the ability of students to stay on for two years after graduating. Now students have just four months after completing a degree to secure a graduate level job with a minimum salary of just over £20,000 a year.

While individual universities have spoken out against the restrictive measures, which have added to a negative climate around foreign student entry, even some within the British government are known to be concerned about the decision to include student numbers in the overall immigration figures from outside the EU, there by making them part of an increasingly controversial and heated debate in the UK.

They include Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond who, according to a letter leaked to the Britain’s Channel 4 in September, wrote to the Prime Minister expressing his concern about the damage done to Britain’s reputation overseas. However, others such as Home Secretary Theresa May – who did not attend the bilateral talks with Modi – remain strongly in favour of keeping students within the net migration figures.

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