Last Updated on October 9, 2025 5:41 pm by BIZNAMA NEWS
R. Suryamurthy
India and Britain agreed to deepen cooperation across trade, defence, technology and education during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first official visit to India, signalling a renewed strategic alignment between the two nations after the signing of their Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) earlier this year.
Starmer, who arrived in India on Wednesday with a 125-member business and academic delegation, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai and New Delhi. The two leaders discussed the swift ratification of CETA and announced new initiatives to expand investment, innovation and defence collaboration.
The prime ministers inaugurated the India–UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre, backed by £24 million in joint funding, to develop AI-native 6G networks and telecom cybersecurity. They also launched the India–UK Joint Centre for AI to promote responsible use of artificial intelligence in health, climate and fintech.
Both sides announced Phase II of the UK–India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory and created a Critical Minerals Industry Guild to secure supply chains for green technologies, with a new satellite campus to be established at IIT–ISM Dhanbad.
On trade, the leaders welcomed the first meeting of the reconstituted India–UK CEO Forum and the resetting of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), which will oversee CETA’s implementation. They also unveiled a joint Climate Technology Start-up Fund, a collaboration between the UK Government and State Bank of India, to support clean-tech entrepreneurs.
In defence, India and the UK agreed to enhance maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, including the creation of a Regional Maritime Security Centre of Excellence, and finalise an inter-governmental agreement to develop maritime electric propulsion systems for the Indian Navy. Britain will also supply Lightweight Multirole Missiles to India, supporting long-term cooperation in complex weapons manufacturing.
The two leaders condemned terrorism “in all forms” and jointly denounced the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, pledging closer counter-terror cooperation.
Education ties were strengthened with India approving new campuses for Lancaster University in Bengaluru and University of Surrey in GIFT City, adding to the growing list of UK institutions establishing a presence in India.
Starmer thanked Modi for his hospitality, saying the visit marked “a new chapter” in bilateral ties. Both sides said the outcomes reaffirmed a shared commitment to innovation, sustainable growth and global stability in the Indo-Pacific era.
