PM Keir Starmer's Mumbai visit this week to further bolster India-UK ties

New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet in Mumbai this week to hold discussions on further strengthening bilateral trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education and people-to-people relations, apart from issues of regional global importance.

The UK Prime Minister, who is scheduled to arrive in India on October 8, and PM Modi will attend the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai on October 9 and deliver keynote addresses at the event.

Both leaders will engage with businesses and industry leaders on the opportunities presented by the India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement as a central pillar of the future India-U.K. economic partnership.

The two Prime Ministers will take stock of the progress in diverse aspects of the India-U.K. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with ‘Vision 2035’, a focused and time-bound 10-year roadmap of programmes and initiatives.

PM Modi visited London on July 24, 2025, the India and the UK signed the historic Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Vision 2035 document, as well as a new Defence Industrial Roadmap.

CETA aims to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The UK has offered zero duty on 99.1 per cent of Indian goods, facilitating professional mobility for skilled workers, and enhancing market access for services. The deal aims to double bilateral trade by 2030 and promotes collaboration in areas like digital trade, sustainability, and innovation.

Elaborating on the agreement, he said that the agreement will help gain market access in the U.K. for “Indian textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery, seafood, and engineering goods. On the other hand, U.K.-made products such as medical devices and aerospace components will become more accessible and affordable for Indian consumers and industries.”

The key pillars of India-UK Vision 2035 include growth and jobs in the UK and India, education and skills partnership to nurture the next generation of global talent. The vision also covers the development of cutting-edge technology and research, building on the Technology Security Initiative, focused on future telecoms, AI and critical minerals, semiconductors, quantum, bio-technology and advanced materials.

Defence and security co-operation, including a common commitment to peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, is another important pillar of the vision. Besides, it includes a climate partnership focused on accelerating clean energy, mobilising climate finance at scale, and strengthening resilience

The India-UK Defence Industrial Roadmap aims to enhance collaboration in co-design, co-development and co-production of defence products to meet the growing demand in both countries as well as for the world market.

The broad spectrum of activities includes joint military exercises, port calls, defence technological cooperation, promoting Make in India, subject matter expert exchanges for exchange of best practices (SMEEs), defence education and defence procurement.

Regular bilateral and multilateral military exercises such as Exercise Konkan 2023, Exercise Cobra Warrior 2023, Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2023, and Exercise TarangShakti 2024 will also be held.

--IANS

sps/dan