Trade, Innovation Top Agenda During UK PM Keir Starmer’s First India Visit | Key Outcomes

Innovation, trade, and jobs were in focus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his British counterpart Keir Starmer for wide-ranging bilateral talks on Thursday.

The British leader landed in Mumbai on Wednesday for his first visit to India and was accompanied by a delegation of 125 of the UK’s most prominent business leaders, entrepreneurs and educationists.

Starmer’s trip came two-and-half months after the two countries inked a landmark free trade pact that will increase market access, cut tariffs and is expected to result in doubling the bilateral trade by 2030. The trade deal was firmed up during PM Modi’s visit to London in July.

List Of Outcomes Of Starmer’s India Vist

1. Technology and Innovation

• Establishment of the India-UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre
• Establishment of the India-UK Joint Centre for AI
• Launch of Phase II of the UK-India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory and establishment of a new satellite campus at IIT-ISM Dhanbad
• Establishment of the Critical Minerals Industry Guild to secure resilient supply chains and promote green technologies.

2. Education

• Handing over the Letter of Intent for opening of the Campus of Lancaster University in Bengaluru
• In-principle approval for opening of Campus of University of Surrey in GIFT City.

3. Trade and Investment

• Inaugural meeting of the reconstituted India-UK CEO Forum
• Resetting the India-UK Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) which will support implementation of the CETA and drive economic growth and job creation in both countries
• A new joint investment in the Climate Technology Startup Fund, a strategic initiative under the MoU between the Government of the UK and the State Bank of India for supporting innovative entrepreneurs in sectors such as climate technology and AI

4. Climate,

Health and Research

• Launch of Phase-III of Bio-Medical Research Career Program
• Establishment of the Offshore Wind Taskforce
• Letter of Intent (LoI) between ICMR and NIHR, United Kingdom on Health Research