French President Emmanuel Macron and UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson clashed over Indian students being lured by both nations.
During his current visit to India, the French President presented France as a new destination for Indian students. His offer had the backdrop of Britain’s exit from the EU. Mr Macron presented France as a gateway to Europe for Indian students.
“We are at the beginning of a new momentum between France and India I want to double the number of Indian students coming to France. If you choose France you gain access to francophonie, you gain access to Europe,” Macron Tweeted.
UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson tweeted back: “We are proud too to have more than 14,000 Indian students coming to the UK in 2017 up a quarter over last year choosing the home of the greatest universities, including four of the global top ten.”
With the hashtag #EducationIsGreatInEnglish Mr Johnson’s tweet came loaded.
The exchange of comments between the top leaders left a trail of tweets from both sides trying to prove their points. A linguist David Head commented, “In November 2016, #India blamed visa changes, introduced by Theresa May as Home Secretary to prevent students from working in Britain after graduation, for a decline from 40,000 to 20,000 in young Indians enrolling in UK universities. Macron trumps UK from a committed #EU base.”
Georgy Bradders posted some figures claiming the UK has stopped being welcoming. Her tweet read, “UK stopped being a welcoming place for students from India when Theresa May introduced new visa restrictions. Numbers halved since 2010.”
Losing out on Indian students is a big thing for the UK as the overseas students contribute around 25 bn pounds a year to the UK economy.
The number of Indian students seeking admission in the UK has seen a declined in recent years. However, Britain has made efforts to recuperate the situation. And the results are visible. 14,445 Indian students were granted study visa in 2017 which is 28 percent more than the previous year.
