British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Mumbai on October 8 and 9 during his first official visit to India after he assumed charge of the top office in July last year. Starmer will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai, where both leaders are scheduled to attend the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Fest and deliver keynote addresses. They will also engage with industry experts, policymakers and innovators. This comes two-and-half months after the two countries inked a free trade pact. Announcing the British PM’s visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement Saturday, “At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer will visit India on 8-9 October 2025. This will be Prime Minister Starmer’s first official visit to India.” On October 9, the Ministry statement said that the two Prime Ministers will take stock of progress in diverse aspects of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with ‘Vision 2035’, a focused and time bound 10-year roadmap of programmes and initiatives in key pillars of trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education and people to people relations. It also said that both leaders will engage with businesses and industry leaders on opportunities presented by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a central pillar of the future India-UK economic partnership. They will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance. The two leaders are also expected to exchange notes on the situation in Gaza, following US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to end the war, with Starmer’s Labour predecessor and former PM Tony Blair part of the Gaza governance body. The visit will build on the momentum and substance generated by PM Modi’s visit to the UK on 23-24 July 2025. It will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the UK to build a forward-looking partnership. On July 24, the much-awaited landmark India-UK Free Trade Agreement was signed. PM Modi called it a historic day, as “after years of hard work, both nations have completed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement”. The trade deal, which is forecast to boost bilateral trade by £25.5 billion annually, is both India’s most comprehensive deal ever, and the UK’s most economically significant bilateral trade deal since leaving the EU, he had added. On May 6, PM Modi and his UK counterpart had announced the successful conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK FTA, after three years of negotiations. The agreement aims to eliminate or cut tariffs on imports and exports between the two nations. Both countries want to increase their trade to $120 billion by 2030. It is expected to boost key sectors such as textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods and toys, marine products, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, auto parts and engines, and organic chemicals.
