 "PM Modi will meet his UK counterpart Keir Starmer in Mumbai. File image/AP")
While addressing a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK PM Keir Starmer lauded India’s growth story. On Thursday, Starmer’s visit marked a breakthrough in India-UK ties, calling New Delhi’s growth over the years remarkable.
The British Prime Minister is on his first visit to India after coming to power in the 2024 UK General Elections. The two leaders met in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai , where Starmer is on a two-day trade mission with the largest ever delegation of more than 100 CEOs, entrepreneurs, university vice-chancellors and cultural leaders.
During Starmer’s trip, the Indian and the British delegation would discuss ways to expand trade ties after both nations signed a landmark trade deal in July this year. The prime minister has been given a rousing welcome in India, with thousands of photos of him and Modi lining parts of Mumbai.
“PM Modi, it was an honour for me to host you in the UK in July and I am so delighted to be making this return visit, just a few months later…,” Starmer said at the start of his address. The UK PM went on to laud the modern relationship between India and the United Kingdom.
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Starmer emphasised the importance of the India-UK trade deal. “We are building something here, we are creating a new modern partnership focused on the future and availing the opportunities, and we are doing it together. That is why we struck the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in July, a breakthrough moment - years in the making, slashing tariffs, increasing access to each other’s markets to drive growth and create jobs for our people and making life in both our nations,” Starmer said in the Thursday press briefing.
“Beyond the words of the page of the Agreement, is the spirit of the confidence that it has given to our two great countries to work even more closely together, something which we have seen during the course of this visit here,” he added.
The British prime minister went on to express hopes for a smoother flow of investments between the two nations. “When we leave later tonight, I expect that we will have secured major new investments, creating thousands of high-skilled jobs in the sectors of the future, for both of our nations,” he said.
The British permier mentioned how his country is working on announcing a deal to make Bollywood movies in the United Kingdom. Starmer’s remarks on the matter came after he paid a visit to the Yash Raj Film Studios on Thursday.
“The UK and India stand side-by-side as global leaders in tech and innovation. So, we have taken the opportunity to deepen our cooperation through our technology, security initiative with new commitments on AI, advanced communication, defence technologies and much more. We are announcing a deal to make Bollywood films in the UK after a fantastic visit to the studio yesterday, and by deepening our cooperation in education…It is the younger generation in India who will lead the charge to deliver on that 2047 target,” Starmer concluded.