Sir Keir Starmer has met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first visit to the country.
The two leaders met in India’s financial capital Mumbai, where the prime minister is on a two-day trade mission with the largest ever delegation of more than 100 CEOs, entrepreneurs, university vice-chancellors and cultural leaders.
Modi has called the visit “historic”, with the two sides meeting to discuss ways to expand business and trade ties after India and the UK signed landmark trade deal in July.
On Thursday Sir Keir announced more UK universities would be opening campuses in India, which the government said would bring a £50m boost to the economy.
Confirming that the University of Lancaster and the University of Surrey had been given approval for new campuses, he said: “I’m delighted that more Indian students will be able to benefit from a world-class British education in the near future – strengthening the ties between our two countries while pumping millions back into our economy and supporting jobs at home.”
The UK has a growing network of international campuses in India, with the University of York, University of Aberdeen and Queen’s University Belfast among those expected to open campuses from as early as next year.
The prime minister has been given a rousing welcome in India, with thousands of photos of him and Modi lining parts of Mumbai that the two leaders will travel through on Thursday.
On his first day, Sir Keir met the founder of India’s digital ID system - Nandan Nilekani - in the wake of plans to introduce a digital ID for people working in the UK.
The government’s plan to introduce compulsory digital ID for people to prove their right to work in the UK has seen more than 2.8 million people signing a petition against the idea. But Downing Street is determined to press on, claiming it will curb the ability of migrants to work illegally.
Sir Keir also announced that three Bollywood films will be made in the UK by Yash Raj Films from 2026, ending an eight-year hiatus.
The government says the yet-to-be-implemented UK-India trade deal has already led to £1bn of investment and almost 7,000 jobs being created in the UK.
Under the trade deal, India’s average tariff on UK products will drop from 15% to 3%.
The UK will cut taxes on Indian clothing, footwear, jewellery and frozen seafood, among other goods, while India will reduce duties on the import of Scotch whisky, cosmetics, medical devices and luxury cars.
The deal is touted to increase the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) by £4.8bn each year and boost trade between the two countries by an additional £25.5bn a year by 2040.
Last year, trade between the UK and India totalled £42.6bn, and was already scheduled to grow.
Before arriving in India, Sir Keir told reporters that the UK would not relax visa rules for India but added that there were “massive opportunities” to improve trade and cultural ties with India.
Sir Keir’s visit comes against a backdrop of strained ties between Delhi and Washington over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on India, which includes a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil.
India and the US have been negotiating a trade deal for months but have not made a major breakthrough yet.
Source: BBC
- Agencies
