“I had a good discussion with Prime Minister Modi about deepening our bilateral ties,” Starmer told the House of Commons in London following his talks with his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil last week.
“We agreed to raise the ambition of our UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which covers security, defence, technology, climate, health and education, building on the unique bonds and cultural ties between our two countries. Crucially, this work will start with trade and investment and I am pleased to say that we agreed to relaunch Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations early in the new year,” he said.
The update for the UK Parliament followed his first meeting on November 18 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his Labour Party government was elected in July. The three-year FTA talks have remained in limbo since the polls, with negotiators on both sides awaiting the green flag to pick up from Round 14.
“Both leaders underlined the importance of resuming the Free Trade Agreement negotiations at an early date and expressed confidence in the ability of the negotiating teams to address the remaining issues to mutual satisfaction, leading to a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward-looking Free Trade Agreement,” said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) following the talks in Rio de Janeiro.
A Downing Street readout had stated that both leaders agreed to relaunch UK-India trade talks in early 2025.
The prime ministerial interaction also coincided with Catherine West’s first visit to New Delhi as UK’s Indo-Pacific Minister. During her India visit, West reiterated the message of enhancing the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and also UK-India education ties at a British Council roundtable.
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Following her meeting with Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, she said: “We discussed our mutual ambitions for the UK-India partnership including climate, trade and migration.”
