British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi attend the India-UK CEO Forum at Jio World Convention Centre on October 9, 2025 in Mumbai.
Credit: Reuters Photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to India was a natural follow-up to the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the two countries in July, and highlighted areas of co-operation and potential challenges.
That Starmer was accompanied by the largest-ever UK delegation of businesspersons to India showed the focus of the visit. Indian companies are projected to make investments of about £1.3 billion in the UK. While some Indian companies propose to set up manufacturing facilities in the UK and trade is set to increase in both directions, India hopes to avail of advanced technologies and innovative practices.
Some sectors such as gems and jewellery, which may be hit hard by the new US tariff regime, are likely to find new export markets in the UK.
Starmer said the trade deal would give an impetus to future cooperation between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there was “a new energy” in the relationship. Multiple sectors including defence, education, and health, and areas such as climate action will gain from the co-operation.
An agreement has been signed under which India will buy UK missiles worth Rs 4,000 crore and naval engines. Nine British universities are proposing on-site campuses in India. Collaboration in research and facilities is expected to increase. The British economy is not in the best of health, but there are multiple areas where India can leverage its relations with the UK. The trade deal is yet to be approved by the British parliament but it is expected in due course. Starmer said he wanted the deal to be implemented “as quickly as humanly possible” as it is Britain’s largest post-Brexit trade achievement.
India was not able to get any commitment from Starmer on the relaxation of visa norms for its professionals and students. It is not possible for a UK government to make any concessions in this regard when immigration remains an intensely debated political issue in the UK and the government is under attack from a rising right wing on the subject.
The importance of the visit to both countries was clear from the size of the British delegation and the grand reception extended to Starmer and his team, in both Delhi and Mumbai. The welcome, according to the British press, prompted a business leader who accompanied the Prime Minister, who faces political troubles back home, to say: “I bet he wishes he could stay here.”