NEW DELHI: United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday arrived in Mumbai for a two-day visit to India. Starmer landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, and attend the CEO Forum and Global Fintech Fest 2025 at the Jio World Centre.Starmer was received by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and Maharashtra governor Acharya Devvrat.The visit will include high-level discussions to strengthen the India–UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and review the Vision 2035 Roadmap for bilateral cooperation.PM Starmer visted India at the invitation of PM Modi, the ministry of external affairs said on Saturday. This will be his first official visit to the country.The two Prime Ministers will also discuss opportunities presented by the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and exchange views on regional and global issues, including trade, technology, defence and climate initiatives.
What’s on the agenda?
Starmer’s two-day visit has a strong trade focus, with the Scotch whisky industry expected to be one of the “big winners” of the India–UK Free Trade Agreement. Downing Street said members of the Scotch Whisky Association are part of Starmer’s trade mission to explore a potential increase in whisky sales to India worth an estimated £1 billion a year, creating over 1,000 new UK jobs.Starmer’s engagements in India will include key meetings with senior ministers and business leaders to deepen bilateral trade and diplomatic ties. “The historic trade deal the UK government struck with India this year is great news for Scotland and especially our whisky industry; but having secured the deal, our challenge and responsibility now is to put this deal into action,” said Douglas Alexander, UK secretary of state for Scotland. Alexander added that Starmer would “beating the drum for Scotland’s finest products,” emphasising that the FTA would allow British exports to reach new markets. The UK government has called the CETA a “landmark” agreement that will boost growth across the country, with export opportunities for other Scottish products such as shortbread and Irn Bru. Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle and investment minister Lord Jason Stockwood are among the ministers accompanying Starmer on the trip, which will focus on implementing the agreement. British government estimates indicate that the CETA could increase bilateral trade by £25.5 billion, lift UK GDP by £4.8 billion, and raise wages by £2.2 billion annually in the long term.
