Modi to Inaugurate Navi Mumbai Airport, Host UK PM Starmer in Mumbai

New Delhi: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will begin a two-day visit to India on Wednesday and is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in Mumbai. 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 focussed 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”.

Mr Modi and Mr Starmer will attend the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and deliver keynote addresses. The leaders will also engage with industry experts, policymakers and innovators.

"The two Prime Ministers 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 economic partnership. They will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance," New Delhi had last week stated.

In July this year, both nations had formally inked the CETA, the free trade agreement, in London during the visit of Mr Modi, who had hailed it as “not just an economic partnership but a “plan for shared prosperity”.

Terming it a “historic day in India-UK relations”, Mr Modi had then said he was “happy that after many years of hard work”, the pact had been inked that, as per British estimates, is expected to boost bilateral trade by about `3-lakh crores.

India and the UK began negotiations for the FTA in January 2022, following which the pact was initially announced by the two Prime Ministers on May 6 this year. Mr Modi had also declared that “it is our commitment that, from artificial intelligence (AI) to critical minerals, semiconductors to cyber security, we shall create the future together”.

While referring to the trade deal, Mr Modi had said that “Indian textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery, seafood and engineering goods will get better market access in the UK and that new opportunities will be created in the UK market for India's agricultural produce and processed food industry”.

Pointing out that “the agreement will prove to be especially beneficial for India's youth, farmers, fishermen, and MSME Sector”, Mr Modi had said that “on the other hand, products made in the UK, such as medical devices and aerospace parts, will be available to the people and industry of India at accessible and affordable rates”.

Britain had said that “Indian consumers will benefit from improved access to the best British products – from soft drinks and cosmetics to cars and medical devices – as average tariffs will drop from 15 per cent to 3 per cent”.

Britain had also said the FTA “removes or reduces tariffs on 90 per cent of tariff lines, including key British exports to India such as whiskies and gin, from 150 per cent to 75 per cent at entry into force and 40 per cent after staging (up to 10 years of the deal)”. It had further stated that British car manufacturers “can benefit from a quota reducing the tariff from up to 110 per cent to 10 per cent”. British food products are also expected to benefit from the pact.