New Delhi/London: UK prime minister Theresa May clashed with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi over migration rules and failed to arrange a meeting with senior figures at Tata Group in a double blow to her three-day visit to India.

Modi called on Britain on Monday to support more Indian students who want to enrol at universities in the UK, as he appeared alongside May at a technology summit in New Delhi.

“Education is vital for our students and will define our engagement in a shared future," he said. “We must therefore encourage greater mobility and participation of young people in education and research opportunities."

Modi’s comments, as May sat beside him on stage, are likely to escalate the long-running disagreement between India and the UK over restrictions on student visas. May’s policy of requiring students to return home after their courses end, which dates back to her time as home secretary responsible for immigration, caused the number of Indian students enrolling in British universities to fall by 50%.

Modi’s remarks were a direct response to May, who told reporters travelling with her to India that her migration rules are working well.

“We have a visa system for countries outside the European Union which ensures that the brightest and the best are able to come to the United Kingdom," the UK premier said. “The figures show that we issued more work visas to India than, I think, the US, Australia, Canada and China put together."

The dispute over migration could be a sign of the difficulties ahead for May as she seeks to pave the way for deals with countries outside the EU after leaving the bloc. She sees controlling Britain’s borders as key to satisfying the voters who backed Brexit in the June referendum but risks antagonizing countries she will need as trade and investment partners.

Separately, May told reporters she was unable to arrange a meeting with senior figures at Tata, whose 4,000 workers at a steel plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, face an uncertain future. The company announced a plan to sell all or part of its British business in March.

Regular contacts

“I had hoped to meet the key people from Tata while I was in India," May said on Sunday at the start of her trip. “Sadly, the schedules don’t allow for me to do that on this particular visit but there are regular contacts between the government and Tata Steel."

In her speech to the business summit on Monday, May said the UK and India don’t need to wait for Brexit before stepping up trade.

“As Britain leaves the EU, we’re determined not to turn our backs on the world but to forge a new, global, outward-looking role for ourselves," she said. “We know from history what happens when countries do not embrace the opportunities of the world. They stagnate. They get poorer. They don’t protect their people; they make them worse off."

May’s trip offers a chance to recover momentum after a double setback at home last week, when she lost a court case over Parliament’s role in Britain’s divorce from the EU and one of her lawmakers quit in protest at her strategy. Brexit secretary David Davis is likely to lead her counter-offensive in the House of Commons on Monday as officials prepare an appeal to the Supreme Court, due to be heard next month.

The ruling that May must consult Parliament before starting Brexit negotiations threatens to slow down and complicate the process of leaving the EU and could dilute her plans to deliver on the referendum result. The Daily Mail was among newspapers that criticized the judges, branding them “enemies of the people," and sparking anger from lawyers who were further incensed by the government’s reluctance to condemn the coverage.

Completely unacceptable

“The personal attacks on the judges are completely unacceptable," the opposition Labour Party’s Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, told BBC radio on Monday.

“I believe in and value the independence of our judiciary," May told reporters on the plane. “I also value the freedom of our press. I think these both underpin our democracy."

The government has a “strong" legal case for why lawmakers should not get to vote on when to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would begin Britain’s formal exit from the EU, she said. Starmer told the BBC Labour wouldn’t seek to block the triggering of Article 50.

The prime minister outlined a “bespoke" visa service for “high net-worth" Indian business leaders and promised faster border checks for all executives travelling from India to Britain.

“We want to attract more Indian businesses to the UK, which is why it’s right to offer Indian business executives a world-class visa service tailored to their needs," May said in a statement to journalists travelling with her. Bloomberg

Alex Morales, Svenja O’Donnell and Craig Stirling also contributed to this story.

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