THE UK Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron’s ongoing visit to India with three of his four most senior cabinet colleagues along with three other ministers and more than 30 senior executives from top British firms shows the high priority and level that Britain desires to give to its engagement with India and the boosting of economic exchanges with the Asian giant.

Scepticism has been expressed about the prospect of the success of the Cameron India mission. Perhaps, one round is never enough: but if it is pursued sincerely, India and Britain can be partners in the economic progress of each other and also in the maintenance of peace in troubled regions. India is the world’s second fastest-growing economy and is expected to overtake China within 40 years. Indians are the fourth largest investors in Britain, with enterprises and stakes in a range of businesses that provide jobs to the unemployed in UK and revenue to the state. India itself is a good place to invest, as is clear from the economic reforms and also from the fact that it produces 160,000 highly educated and skilled technocrats annually.

Together with efforts to build up a strategic relationship with India, the Cameron mission needs to ensure that any relationship with India is built on trust and mutual cooperation. His first action, after becoming prime minister, of putting a cap on arrival of Indians in Britain created an adverse reaction among the Indian immigrants as well as people at large in India. The statement put both the Indian government and public in a bad mood. Like every country, UK too should be free to decide on work-related in-migration. But the measure should not be directed against any particular nationals.

It would do better for a strong Indo-British relationship for the British government to appreciate that UK’s largest manufacturer (Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover and Corus steel) is Indian. India’s 700 companies in the UK are the largest job creators; UK businesses owned by British Indians generate £10 billion in turnover; and the richest Briton, Mr Lakshmi Mittal is an Indian! The need is to build on the strong foundations that have already been created for Indo-British engagement. Britain has been outsourcing works to India. Britain has been getting students for its schools and colleges every year; these students have been able to support Britain maintain its leadership in education with their education loans in an era of subsidy shrinkage.

Mr Cameron is in India at a time when restrictions on immigration to Britain and curbs on student visas have not gone down well with India. Britain’s snail-like economic recovery and its fears of a double-dip recession might have forced it to resort to this action. But it cannot shut its eyes to the global realities. India has pushed its growth rate to nearly nine per cent. India has survived the economic downturn with fewer losses; Britain suffered much more. Of course, the type of economy India has and the type of economy Britain has are two different circuits. The biggest lesson the recent years of economic battering have taught the western nations is that they have to build up strong safeguards against the abuses in the financial systems that resulted in the recession. The safeguards cannot be built by any one nation or group of nations or a bloc–developed or emerging–but has to be constructed very carefully in this globalised age jointly by all. The Cameron India mission would be treated as successful if it is able to cement Indo-British bond not only for investments and job opportunities but also for safety nets and valves.