Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May during her visit to Bengaluru on Tuesday to request her to make U.K. visas less expensive.
Disclosing this to mediapersons here on Monday, Major Industries Minister R.V. Deshpande said Karnataka had been seriously affected by the U.K.’s decision to make visas expensive.
Pointing out that a large number of techies from Bengaluru used to take up short-term visits to the U.K. as part of their work, he said such visits had reduced now. “Restrictions like this, which would hinder the entry of great talents, would inhibit the competitiveness of the U.K. industry,” he felt.
The Chief Minister would try to convince her that the IT industry would need visas which enable engineers to travel to the U.K. to work on projects from three to 12 months. Students and tourists too were finding it difficult to visit that country due to the new visa norms, he observed.
Mr. Deshpande described the British Prime Minister’s visit to Bengaluru as a message which proves the importance of Karnataka. Expressing confidence that her visit would help boost trade between Karnataka and the U.K., he said “We welcome U.K. engineers to work in Bengaluru. We also want thousands of U.K. students to intern with our technological companies here.”
