Hyderabad: During 2019-20, close to 50,000 Indian students successfully received a tier-four visa to pursue higher education in the UK. This happens to be an increase of 136 per cent from the previous year.
Interacting with media persons here on Tuesday, British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Andrew Fleming said the number of Indian students moving to the UK was increasing each year and despite the Covid-19 pandemic challenges, the numbers went up yet again.
“I think one of the reasons why they have increased this year, in particular, is because of changes in our visa policy. Anybody who has chosen goes to the UK starting September this year to do a course at least first-degree level or master’s or above, will have the opportunity, at end of their study, to apply to remain in the UK and undertake work experience for an additional two years,” he said.
Stating that the Telugu region has been under-represented in terms of numbers in Chevening Scholarships, he said this year two candidates from this region were pursuing different master courses in the UK under the scholarships and there was number of candidates competing for fellowship programmes.
Terming India as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ supplying more than 50 per cent of the world’s vaccines, he said Hyderabad was producing one in three vaccines globally according to current figures. Over a billion doses of the UK’s Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine were being manufactured at Serum Institute of India in Pune, he said.
On the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to India for Republic Day celebrations, Fleming said that he sees this as a further opportunity to strengthen a key strategic relationship between two nations.
“Specifically, the Prime Minister will use his visit to India to boost our cooperation in areas that matter to the UK and that will be a priority for our international engagement throughout 2021 – from trade and investment to defence and security, and health and climate change,” he added.
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