UK exploring AI, fintech partnerships with India: High Commissioner Asquith

UK was creating tech clusters in India to build these technologies and bring their applications to the market, British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith told Peerzada Abrar in an interview

UK is exploring new partnerships with India in emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI), financial technology (fintech), cybersecurity and e-mobility, said British High Commissioner to India Sir Dominic Asquith. In an interview with Peerzada Abrar, Asquith said the UK was creating tech clusters in India to build these technologies and bring their applications to the market while it was also exploring cooperation in the area of defence to provide the next generation of future combat aircraft. Edited excerpts:

How do you view the UK-India relations and what kind of partnerships are both countries looking at in areas such as technology and healthcare?

In April 2018, the UK-India Tech Partnership was launched by then-UK Prime Minister Theresa May and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In terms of importance, it is up there at the very top. As both want to develop their strengths in the tech sector, this sort of collaboration makes a huge sense. Our focus is on artificial intelligence, fintech and financial services and cyber and also e-mobility and healthcare. We are starting with the AI/data science cluster in Karnataka, and the future mobility cluster in Maharashtra. We also aim to have hubs in four other locations - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. We create more AI-related jobs than the whole of Europe. We have that extraordinarily strong institutional scientific academic background in Oxford and Cambridge, where they nurture the environment for that. Also, the city of London is the biggest financial market, giving us a huge advantage in terms of developing fintech. But it is not just London, fintech is focused all around the UK. The third area is cyber, where we have remarkable prowess like the GCHQ (intelligence security organisation) and partnerships with FVEY countries (intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US). There is certainly scope in the healthcare sector. We are already piloting an AI project in the healthcare sector in India. 

The bilateral trade between the UK and India is 21.14 billion pounds. In 2011 it was 19.4 billion pounds. Do you see any dramatic increase in the near future?

We've done good increases over the last four years. If you look at the strength of the relationship in business terms, I would point towards the investment that we make in each other's country. India and the UK are the top three or five investors in each other's countries. It's remarkable that India invests more in the UK than the rest of Europe. In turn, we have been the number one G-20 investor for quite some time here. If you look at the last four years, the number of Indian companies that have been set up in the UK have quadrupled. That's in a context when people supposedly think that Brexit was introducing uncertainty. Look at BT, Rolls-Royce and Tesco, all are setting up cutting edge big research development centres. If BT has a problem in the UK, say about integrating something into the network, the solution will be found in one of its offices here in India.

What are the steps that the UK is taking to make it easier for students and the business community to get visas?

We announced in September re-introduction of the two-year post-study work visa for international students, which has been welcomed here. Through the last three years, we doubled the number of Indian students who come to the UK, even without this decision, which will only come operative next academic year. The annual arrival of Indian students has climbed to 22,000. Also, we give more work visas to Indians than the rest of the world combined. This also indicates the strength of commercial relationship between the two countries. I have little doubt that there will be continuing desire to make sure the UK attracts the sort of people it needs to develop sectors of its economy and India is very strong in many of those skills and expertise. 

UK-based Vodafone has to pay the government an estimated Rs 44,000 crore towards past licence fees and penalties (adjusted gross revenue). How do you view the ease of doing business in India? 

British companies are focused in ensuring that the climate they are operating in is conducive. The firms are working with the state and Central governments for that. Especially with states that recognise the importance of creating that sort of climate to be able to attract foreign investment. Karnataka has been a very good example of that and the evidence of that is the number of British companies looking at setting up business there. So creating that context by British companies, in our case, where they feel comfortable with the regulatory, legal and government policy approach to doing business is clearly going to be something we're going to continue to put effort into. We are going to (put) more focus on how you can collaborate with them (states) in their desire to improve the conditions or business climate. Vodafone, they can answer that but you know, businesses in whatever country (they are in) have challenges that they're going to face.