“I think it speaks as much to sentiment as it does to practicalities,” said Simona Campbell, vice president of university relations at Leap.

Speaking on what makes a good negotiation for both parties, Campbell said “nobody wants to feel like a loser coming out of it”.

“If you take the Graduate Route away, India, and Indians, immediately feel like they’ve lost something and are going into these conversations feeling like already on the losing side that now needs to be recovered.

“It creates a negative tone to any sort of conversations,” added Campbell.

Krishna Omkar, 2023 winner of NISAU’s UK-India Achievers Award and corporate lawyer by background, said that he hopes the Graduate Route is given the importance it deserves in relation to the UK-India trade deal.

The comments were made during The PIE Live Europe conference in London, where a panel, hosted by NISAU founder and chairperson Sanam Arora, unpacked what the impact would be if the Graduate Route was taken away for Indian students, and the knock-on effects for India-UK relations.

The Migration Advisory Committee has until May 14 to present its findings of its review of the Graduate Review, as commissioned by the UK government.

Speaking at the event earlier in the day, former universities minister Jo Johnson said the complete suspension of the route would be a “nuclear option“.

Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing Southall, shared his thoughts during the panel, and delegates convened at the conference were keen to hear from him Labour’s stance on the policy, in an important election year.

“If you take the Graduate Route away, India, and Indians, immediately feel like they’ve lost something”

Although Sharma said the Labour party is “committed” to offering an attractive post-study work offering for international students, but he did not give specifics on the party’s manifesto.

“If in case there is no such commitment coming out, there are allies like myself and many others who will be fighting for the rights. We see the benefit of it,” he said.

Sharma went on to say that the Labour Party has learned lessons from the last time the post-study work visa was taken away in 2011. He does not want to repeat history that had a negative impact on the country’s reputation as a study destination, he added.

India-UK relations, as well as the Labour government, have moved away from a “master-servant” perception of the relations between the two countries, said Sharma, and assured delegates that if Labour are to be successful in the pending election, the party would work to continue this “equal-footing”, making sure that contributions are recognised and supported by each other.

Sharma highlighted the power of diaspora groups such as NISAU in impacting policies such as the Graduate Route, and said that it is a “collective role” that must be played by politicians, educators and lobbyists alike.

A strong supporter of the Graduate Route, Arora did not shy away from mentioning a certain “complacency around recruitment efforts” in the UK. She noted the government’s concerns that education is being mis-sold as education, along with a lack of penalisation for agents who misrepresent UK universities and their offers.

As India competes with China as top sending country to the UK, Sharma took the time to point out that most Indian students, after studying in the UK and gaining a few years work experience, tend to go back home to India – something that was not the case 30 or so years ago.

Now, India can offer returners advanced opportunities in their home country, he said, becoming ambassadors to UK universities when they go back home.