Britain Woos Bright Indian Students, Business People

New Delhi: Wooing Indian business and students to his country, British High Commissioner James Bevan sought to dispel the notion that the country's economy was on a slowdown and assured that visa services would be eased for "genuine Indian visitors, students and business people to the UK".

Bevan, speaking on the topic "The UK and India: Myths, Reality and Prospects", sought to bust "five myths" that Indians have about his country.

He said Britons are not "stuffy and old fashioned" and the London Olympics this year "summed up modern Britain". On the second myth that "Britain is in decline", he said: "We in the UK reject that completely. We think Britain's best days are ahead of us".

Britain's economy "is one of the world's largest. We have the seventh largest economy in the world (India is 11th) with an annual GDP of over $2.4 trillion," he said.

He said despite the economic downturn, which has hit Britain, the "British economy is healing. It's a hard road, but we're on the right track".

Britain is one of the most business-friendly environments in the world and his government has cut red tape, said Bevan. He said in the last five years, "Indian companies have put more investment into the UK than into the whole of the rest of the European Union put together".

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