Starmer Meets Modi: How Britain Could Use India’s Aadhaar Experience For ‘Brit Card’ | World News

New Delhi: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited India for the first time since taking office last year. He, along with a delegation of British business and cultural leaders, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s financial capital Mumbai.

The main focus of the visit was Aadhaar, India’s massive digital identity system that issues more than 1.3 billion identities. Starmer’s visit comes two weeks after the UK announced plans for its own digital ID system, the Brit Card. He called Aadhaar a “huge success” while defending the UK initiative, which has faced criticism from rights groups.

During his visit, he also met Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former head of the Aadhaar project, and sought insight into how India built and maintained the system and what lessons could be applied to the UK.

Why Does the UK Want a Digital ‘Brit Card’?

Starmer’s Brit Card aims to tackle illegal work and irregular immigration in the UK. The system will provide citizens with a way to quickly verify their identity to access government services.

“A digital ID system will make it harder to work illegally in this country and make our borders safer,” Starmer said in a statement last month.

He added that the card would offer “numerous benefits, such as being able to prove your identity to quickly access essential services.”

Despite its proposed advantages, the idea met with strong opposition. More than 2.2 million people signed a petition against the card. The petition described the Brit Card as “a step towards mass surveillance and digital control” and warned that “no one should be forced to sign up to a state-controlled identity system”.

Starmer underlined the conveniences that the system can bring. “I think we can gain a significant advantage,” he said, explaining that managing multiple documents for daily tasks often leads to frustration.

How Does India’s Aadhaar Work?

Aadhaar is larger and more detailed than the planned Brit Card. It processes approximately 80 million identity verification transactions per day by collecting fingerprints, eye scans, photographs, home addresses and phone numbers.

Every Indian citizen is issued a 12-digit ID card, which is used to open a bank account, get a SIM card and receive government benefits. Launched in 2009, Aadhaar has issued more than 1.3 billion identities and claims to save nearly $10 billion in administrative costs. Critics argue that this figure may be exaggerated.

UK authorities announced that Brit Kart will not store biometric data. Instead, the focus will be on basic authentication and inclusivity.

Concerns Around Aadhaar

Aadhaar has suffered many large-scale data leaks. At times, leaks have exposed personal information of up to 85 percent of the population.

In January 2025, India allowed private companies to access the database for authentication. Critics have warned that this access could lead to misuse of personal and biometric data.

“The fundamental problem with Aadhaar was conceptual; the centralization of digital identity and the biometric information that accompanies it was supposed to be avoided,” said Vrinda Bhandari, a Supreme Court lawyer and digital rights expert.

Linking Aadhaar to other databases increases the risk, he added.

Public confidence in Aadhaar remains low. A survey conducted earlier this year showed that 87 percent of citizens believe their personal data has already been compromised or compromised; this rate was 72 percent in 2022.

Critics have also argued that Aadhaar sometimes makes it difficult to distribute welfare benefits to marginalized citizens. Technical problems with fingerprinting or internet connection occasionally cause pension or benefit payments to be delayed. The Supreme Court approved Aadhaar for welfare and taxes but restricted its use in education and by private companies.

Global Impact of Aadhaar

Many countries have taken Aadhaar as an example. Kenya launched the Huduma Namba project in 2019, drawing heavily on Aadhaar, but faced legal challenges around privacy and participation.

Other countries, including the Philippines, Morocco and Ethiopia, have also examined the Aadhaar approach.

In the United Kingdom, rights groups have raised privacy concerns about the Brit Card. Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, warned that the system would “make Britain less free” and could expand into mass surveillance across citizenship, benefits and healthcare systems.

Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said ministers had “no intention of pursuing a dystopian mess”.

Trade and Investment Talks

Modi and Starmer also discussed increasing bilateral trade. More than 100 British business and university leaders accompanied the British prime minister following the free trade agreement in July, which aims to double trade to $120 billion by 2030.

Addressing the UK delegation, Modi said, “India’s dynamism and the UK’s expertise together create a unique synergy.”

Starmer predicted the new investments would create thousands of highly skilled jobs.

The two countries announced new initiatives, including an India-UK connectivity and innovation hub, a joint AI development center and a critical minerals guild. Sixty-four Indian companies have pledged to invest 1.3 billion pounds ($1.73 billion) in the UK.

Partnership Challenges

London and New Delhi do not agree on all issues. While the United Kingdom condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India maintains its strategic autonomy and continues to purchase Russian oil. Starmer and Modi also have differences over Khalistan activism in the UK and previous media portrayals of India.

Despite these differences, both sides emphasized cooperation in trade, technology and innovation. Starmer’s visit signaled a new phase in UK-India relations.