High-level visit to India from new U.K. government soon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, a day after the Labour Party came to power on the back of a massive mandate. In a post on X, Mr. Modi said he had congratulated Mr. Starmer and remained committed to “deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust economic ties.” Foreign Secretary David Lammy had visited Delhi in February while he was the Shadow Foreign Secretary, accompanied by Jonathan Reynolds, who has now been named Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Free trade agreement Significantly, at the India Global Forum meet in the U.K. last month, Mr. Lammy had said that he expected to be in Delhi “within a month” of a Labour government being formed, especially if the two sides can “get across the line” on completing the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement that the previous Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak governments were unable to complete. Though Keir Starmer has moved the Labour Party more to the centre, the challenges on these issues remain,” Ms. Ghanshyam said, adding that the strong mandate the ruling party now has would mean India expects it to be able to manage political irritants better. While Mr. Starmer has rejected the Sunak government’s tough policies that included sending undocumented immigrants to countries such as Rwanda to be processed, the Labour manifesto has promised a border control system, and will be expected to enforce “returns” agreements, similar to the one India and the U.K. signed in 2022, but have yet to be able to implement in full.