Former UK home secretary Priti Patel has claimed that India was unwilling to take back thousands of Indians staying “illegally” in Britain because fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi had not been extradited to India.
Patel, who served as the UK’s home secretary from 2019 to 2022, made the remarks in the fourth episode of The Diamond King podcast, a four-part series by The Daily Telegraph. The podcast, created by reporters Rob Mendick and Mick Brown, focuses on Nirav Modi’s rise and downfall. The journalists had traced him to London in 2019.
Patel says extradition delay affected cooperation
Patel said India was deeply unhappy over the UK’s failure to send Nirav Modi back. According to her, this became a major issue while Britain was trying to return Indian nationals whose asylum claims had failed or who were staying in the country illegally.
She said the UK had “a very high number” of illegal Indian migrants and claimed that it was extremely difficult to convince India to accept charter flights carrying those who were due to be returned. Patel also said Indian authorities questioned the identities of the people listed by the UK and delayed the verification process. She added that she believed the high-profile Nirav Modi case was the main reason behind India’s response.
Nirav Modi still in UK prison
Patel approved Nirav Modi’s extradition in 2021 and said she was shocked that he was still in London seven years after he was first traced there. She said he should be in prison in India serving his sentence.
Nirav Modi is currently lodged in Pentonville Prison in London. He has spent more than £1 million on legal efforts to stop his extradition. Earlier this month, reports suggested that he had lost his appeal before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which could have cleared the way for his return to India. However, he has not yet been extradited. The ECHR and the UK Home Office declined to comment on the matter, while his lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald KC, told The Times of India, “We fight on whatever happens.”
India rejects the claim
The exact number of illegal Indian migrants in the UK is not officially known. A figure of around 100,000 was widely discussed in 2018, but Indian officials disputed that estimate at the time.
In May 2021, India and the UK signed a Migration and Mobility Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which both countries agreed to take back their citizens found to be living illegally in the other country.
Rejecting Patel’s remarks, Kuldeep Shekhawat, who heads the Overseas Friends of BJP UK and Europe, said India has never refused to accept its citizens living illegally abroad. “This is not true. India is taking back illegal migrants. India has never opposed that,” he said, adding that India does not support illegal migration anywhere in the world.
