‘Want to enact India-UK deal ASAP’: PM Kier Starmer during Mumbai visit

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted the trade deal with India to be implemented as soon as “humanly possible” as he landed in Mumbai for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. “It provides huge opportunities,” Starmer told the delegates on his trade mission on arrival in Mumbai. “I think the opportunities are already opening up... Our job is to make it easier for you to seize the opportunities… On the plane home, I want each of you to tell me what you got out of this trip: a deal, a contact.” “We signed a major trade deal with India in July — the best secured by any country — but the story doesn't stop there,” the British Prime Minister said on Wednesday. “It's not just a piece of paper, it's a launchpad for growth. With India set to be the third biggest economy in the world by 2028, and trade with them about to become quicker and cheaper, the opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled.” Largest UK Trade Mission in India Starmer said growth in India means more choice, stability, and jobs at home for the British people. Both sides have said they are looking to ratify the deal and put it into effect within the next year. The British PM is accompanied by a delegation of 125 of the UK’s top CEOs, leading entrepreneurs, university vice chancellors, and heads of cultural institutions. This is the largest UK government trade mission to India following the free trade agreement (FTA) signed in July. “We've shown there is no limit on our ambition to grow trade with India — in less than a year we've gone from restarting talks on a deal, to bringing 125 brilliant business leaders to its commercial capital,” said Peter Kyle, the UK’s business and trade secretary. Top executives of Rolls Royce, British Telecom, Diageo, the London Stock Exchange, and British Airways are part of Starmer's delegation. For India, the mobility of professionals will top the agenda when Modi meets Starmer on Thursday. But ahead of his arrival, Starmer said the UK will not relax rules for India. Starmer said on the flight to Mumbai that visas “played no part” in the trade deal with India and that the situation had not changed.