Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the "largest ever UK trade delegation". The Indian leader expressed hope to strengthen "both sides' shared vision of a stronger, prosperous future".
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's two-day visit to India, from October 8-9, came after the two countries signed an important trade deal in London in July.
"With India expected to become the world's third largest economy by 2028 and India's trade getting faster and cheaper, the waiting opportunities to seize are unprecedented," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
India and the UK are currently the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world, with bilateral trade worth about $24.8 billion and investments creating more than 600,000 jobs in both countries.
Keir Starmer, leading a 125-member delegation, including business leaders such as British Airways CEO Sean Doyle, called the recent trade deal the "greatest deal" India has ever reached.
"I think that the opportunities have opened up, the relationship with India has been strengthened, trade with India has grown strongly over the past 12 months and is continuing to increase," said the UK Prime Minister.
Under the new deal, India will cut import tariffs on British goods such as ruou ruou, cosmetics and medical equipment, while the UK will cut tariffs on clothes, shoes and food, including frozen shrimp from India.
Mr. Keir Starmer also revealed that 3 new Bollywood blockbusters will be produced in the UK from 2026 when he ends his visit to famous film studio Yash Raj.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also visited a new Premier League community program to meet young football players and Indian coaches.
The Premier League is one of the UK's most successful cultural exports, generating $13 billion in value to the economy and creating more than 100,000 jobs.
Currently, the number of football fans in India watching the Premier League is 71 million, more than the entire population of the UK.
However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out expanding visa access to Indian experts. He emphasized that this content was not included in the plan to Mumbai. "We are here to take advantage of the free trade agreement we have signed. We have to do that plan," he said.
On October 9, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two leaders to speak at a financial technology conference in Mumbai.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said he spent the second and final day of his visit to India to discuss a bilateral trade deal and a technology security initiative launched in July last year.
The UK Prime Minister's Office has announced that 64 Indian companies will invest $1.75 billion in the UK. "The UK-India trade deal has been opening up growth opportunities, and today's announcements mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation between our two countries," Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized.
In the announcement of the meeting of the two trade ministers on October 8, the Indian Ministry of Commerce said that the two sides agreed to cooperate more closely in areas including advanced manufacturing technology, digital trade, clean energy and services.
