Starmer arrives in India with large business delegation in tow

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Mumbai early on Wednesday morning, October 8, 2025, for a two-day visit with a delegation of 125 people, including CEOs and representatives of British institutes, universities and industry groups. The visit comes months after India and the UK signed a trade agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the European country in July. This also comes at a time when both countries are experiencing major geopolitical changes, including their trade relations with the United States, under the Donald Trump administration.

The visit focuses on trade and commerce, with No.10 Downing Street calling it a “two-day trade mission to Mumbai”. The UK delegation will include Trade and Commerce Minister Peter Kyle as well as investment minister Jason Stockwood.

Mr Starmer said of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA): “It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a launchpad for growth.”

The visit will also include bilateral talks on regional and global issues, the Indian government said on Saturday. According to the statement made by the UK government, these talks, planned to be held on Thursday, October 9, 2025, will aim to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, including the technology partnership of the Technology Security Initiative, which was launched in July 2024.

The leaders will also consider India-UK relations, which have been reframed under the guidance of ‘Vision 2035’, a ten-year roadmap covering dimensions ranging from trade and climate to education, technology and people-to-people relations, during Mr Modi’s visit to the UK in the summer.

Since Mr Starmer took over the leadership of the Labor Party in 2020, Labor has sought to redefine its relationship with India after ties frayed over the party’s positions on India, Pakistan and the Kashmir issue. Another challenge for the Modi government with the UK (among governments on Downing Street) was to reach a common understanding of the risks to Indian personnel and assets in the UK from Khalistani separatists operating in Britain. The signing of the trade agreement in July and the articulation of Vision 2035 were consequences of both sides choosing to reset relations.

On Thursday, Mr Modi and Mr Starmer will deliver keynote speeches and meet business leaders at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, according to a government press release.

As part of the trade agreement, the UK abolished customs duties on 99 percent of products. But this will affect a smaller portion of India’s exports to the UK, around 45% (or $6.5 billion), according to the Global Trade Initiative. Affected products include textiles, shoes, seafood, automobiles, etc. It is located.

For the UK, one of CETA’s biggest gains was in the alcoholic beverages sector.

Scottish Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “The historic trade agreement signed by the UK Government with India this year is great news for Scotland and especially for our whiskey industry. But having secured the agreement, our challenge and responsibility now is to deliver it.”

“This requires implementation of the agreement by the governments of India and the UK, and use of the agreement by British and Indian businesses,” Mr Alexander added. Under the agreement, tariffs on Scotch Whiskey will drop from 150% to 75% immediately and to 40% within ten years.

The trade deal has not yet been made operational and could take months to pass through the British legislature. According to sources familiar with the process, it seems unlikely that the agreement will be implemented before the beginning of 2026.

“Britain means business. We want to increase bilateral trade, commerce and investment between the two countries,” said Karan Billimoria, a member of the House of Lords and founder of Cobra Beer. Hindu on Tuesday, October 7.

Mr Billimoria, who has served as chairman of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), believes the visit is more than symbolic and thinks India and the UK will double their bilateral trade over the next five years. The value of total bilateral trade in goods and services was £44.1 billion ($59.14 billion) in the year ending March 31, according to official data from the United Kingdom.

While India is the UK’s 11th largest trading partner and the trade deal is expected to contribute just a 0.13% increase to the UK’s GDP in the long term (equivalent to £4.8 billion annually), the deal with India has been repeatedly cited by Mr Starmer and his colleagues as an example of job creation. The trade deal is expected to increase UK exports to India by 60%, Downing Street said.

Posting a photo of himself on social media with dozens of others from his delegation getting off the plane that brought them to Mumbai, Mr Starmer said he was on a mission to “deliver to people at home”.

The Labor government faces significant economic challenges in the UK, including low productivity, high national debt and weak economic growth. It has also tightened the screws on immigration, including the movement of skilled and documented workers to the UK, partly under pressure from anti-immigration policy promises from the Conservatives and the UK Reform Party. India is at the top of the list of countries that receive the most skilled worker visas for their citizens in recent years.

“Other countries are actively competing for the same pool of skilled talent, and perceptions of openness can significantly shape investment decisions,” said a spokesperson for the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), an industry body, when asked what steps the government was taking to reduce skilled legal immigration.

The panel, represented by Mr Starmer’s delegation, said it recognized the British government’s intention to manage immigration in a way that supports national priorities. A UKIBC spokesman said a “balanced and predictable” immigration framework that welcomes talent in high-demand sectors will ensure the UK remains a top destination for investment.

The delegation also included banks such as CBI, Rolls-Royce, British Airways, Standard Chartered, Barclays, NatWest and HSBC; spirits company Diageo; engineering firm Arup and telecom company BT.

It was published – 08 October 2025 06:00 IST