“I think it’s as much about emotion as it is about practicality,” said Simona Campbell, Leap’s vice president of university relations.
“No one wants to feel like a loser,” Campbell said of how to create a good negotiation for both parties.
“If you take out the graduate path, India, Indians, immediately they come into these conversations feeling like they have lost something and are already on the losing side that needs to be recovered.
“It creates a negative tone for any kind of conversation,” Campbell added.
Krishna Omkar, recipient of NISAU's 2023 UK-India Achievement Award and a corporate lawyer by background, said he hoped the postgraduate route would be given the importance it deserves in relation to the UK-India trade agreement.
These comments were made at the PIE Live Europe conference in London. The panel, hosted by NISAU Founder and President Sanam Arora, explained how the loss of graduate pathways would impact Indian students and what knock-on effects there would be for Indian students. India-British relations.
The Immigration Advisory Committee has until May 14 to publish the results of its postgraduate review, commissioned by the UK government.
Speaking at an event this morning, former universities minister Joe Johnson said a complete halt to the route would be a “nuclear option”.
Virendra Sharma, Labor MP for Ealing Southall, shared his thoughts on the panel and delegates called to the meeting were keen to hear Labour's position on policy in a critical election year.
“If you take away the graduate path for India and Indians, it immediately feels like something has been lost.”
Sharma said Labor was “committed” to providing attractive post-university employment opportunities for international students, but gave no specifics about the party's manifesto.
“If that promise doesn’t come, there will be allies like me and many others who will fight for our rights. “We see the benefits of it,” he said.
Sharma went on to say that Labor had learned its lesson in 2011 when post-study work visas were revoked. He does not want to repeat history, which has negatively affected the country's reputation as a study abroad destination. Added.
India-UK relations and the Labor government have moved away from a “master-servant” perception of the relationship, Sharma said. And for Labor to succeed at this election, he assured delegates: The party will strive to continue to maintain this “equal footing”, ensuring that contributions are recognized and supported.
Sharma emphasized the power of diaspora groups like NISAU to influence policies such as graduate pathways, saying this is a “collective role” that must be played by politicians, educators and lobbyists alike.
Arora, a strong supporter of the Graduate Route, did not shy away from calling out the UK's “complacency in recruitment efforts”. She pointed to the government's concerns that education is being mismarketed as education and the lack of punishment for UK universities and their agents who misrepresent their proposals.
As India competes with China as the top sending country to the UK, Sharma pointed out that most Indian students tend to study in the UK and gain a few years of work experience before returning to their home country of India. This incident occurred about 30 years ago.
Now, India has told returnees that when they return home, they can become ambassadors for British universities and provide them with opportunities developed in their home country.