Starmer pushes for quick implementation of India Trade Pact

Starmer and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had finalized a free-trade agreement in July after three years of intense negotiations.

Keir Starmer said he wants the UK’s free trade agreement with India implemented “as soon as humanly possible,” as the British prime minister received a warm welcome on his first visit to the South Asian nation since taking office.

Speaking to business delegates from the grand staircase of Taj Mahal Palace hotel on Wednesday in Mumbai, Starmer said he has instructed his team to move quickly on the deal signed earlier this year.

Starmer and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had finalized a free-trade agreement in July after three years of intense negotiations. The UK premier is in India this week, leading a delegation of more than 100 British business, academic, and cultural leaders to deepen commercial ties between the two countries.

“Our job is to make it easier for you to seize the opportunities,” Starmer told the business delegates. “On the plane home, I want each of you to tell me what you got out of this trip — a deal, a contact.”

The British leader’s arrival was met with welcome messages across Mumbai, the seaside megacity that is India’s business and financial capital. Hundreds of billboards and posters with Starmer’s face dotted the city, including some showing the British leader standing alongside Modi and praising the close ties between the two nations.

Starmer said the signing of the FTA is already boosting trade between the two nations. He closed his address at the hotel by taking a selfie with the gathered delegates with a disposable camera. The visit also comes a day after British Airways Plc announced plans to start a third daily flight between Heathrow Airport and New Delhi.

Later in the day, Starmer visited Yash Raj Films, one of India’s leading production and distribution houses, and announced that the studio would shoot in the UK from next year. “Bollywood is back in Britain, and it’s bringing jobs, investment and opportunity,” he said in statement. “This is exactly the kind of partnership our trade deal with India is destined to unlock.”

Welcome Prime Minister Keir Starmer on your historic first visit to India with the largest ever trade delegation from the UK. Looking forward to our meeting tomorrow for advancing our shared vision of a stronger, mutually prosperous future. @Keir_Starmer pic.twitter.com/Sv29sZ6dzj

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— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 8, 2025

Still, the visit had some awkward undertones. Just hours before Starmer’s arrival, Modi announced warm birthday greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him “my friend” and praising “his personal commitment to deepening India-Russia ties.” Starmer has been a leader in urging nations to pressure Putin and bring him to the negotiating table to end his invasion of Ukraine.

Starmer deflected a question while on the plane to India about the birthday greetings. “Just for the record, I haven’t sent birthday congratulations to Putin,” he told reporters.

Tensions over migration are also expected to linger. On the flight to Mumbai, Starmer said he would resist demands from business to allow more highly skilled workers from India to come to the UK.

Speaking at a football pitch near Mumbai’s Oval Maidan cricket ground, Starmer said none of the business leaders had raised the issue of visas. “That wasn’t part of the FTA,” he said.

“What this is about is providing opportunities for them to take advantage of the FTA, and even before it’s fully enforced, the mood is very, very strong between India and the UK, and I’m really pleased,” he said.