MUMBAI: The UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday invited Indian fintech and tech companies to do business with Britain and said that the UK was “rolling out the red carpet for Indian firms”.
“We are committed to building a strong partnership with India, given its potential and promise as the world’s biggest democracy and one of the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world,” he declared.
The British PM was addressing the Global Fintech Festival at the Jio Convention Centre. He was in Mumbai along with 126 British businessmen and other leaders, the first business delegation to be led by him after becoming PM. It was also the biggest British business delegation in the last decade and the biggest ever in India.
“I am here to extend an invitation to all of you to do business with Britain, to see the United Kingdom as your gateway to join global,” (sic) stated Starmer, who began his speech in Hindi saying, “Mujhe yahan aakar bahut khushi hui (I am delighted to be here)… I hope I was roughly right.”
He then said, “If you want to create great jobs, great growth and succeed, we are rolling out the red carpet. We want to see leading Indian firms flourishing in the United Kingdom taking their business global and British firms thriving in India.”
Starmer said that this was the “modern dynamic relationship” that he and PM Modi were building. “It will be a partnership defined by huge ambitions, and we know we can achieve great things together,” he said. “It is the time to invest in this relationship and invest in our shared future, turning this into a landmark movement for the UK and India, a start for a new era and making life better for working people for many years to come.”
The British PM elaborated on the reforms the UK government was planning to attract more investors to the country. “We are making the UK an even better place for fintech and innovation by investing in digital infrastructure, data sharing and AI adoption,” he said. “More than that, we are delivering fast-track authorisations, streamlined compliance and easing rules to attract the top global talents. Now we are creating a new office for investment in financial services, a dedicated service for international firms coming into the United Kingdom. We are in India today to show that we mean it.”
Before this, Starmer and Modi attended the CEO Forum meeting at the same venue, where they shared their thoughts with industry giants. “We had a couple of very productive days as we brought together businesses, investors from both sides for networking, discussing and sharing ideas,” Starmer said during the meeting. “I see it as a celebration of partnership between UK and India and a clear display of our belief in the potential.” The British PM declared that within three months of signing the free trade agreement with India, they had seen a six-billion-pound boost in their trade and investment.
The British PM also chose to comment on the attitude of past UK governments, saying that they would negotiate trade deals and then walk away from the table, saying, ‘Over to you’. “We have got to do things differently,” he said. “Governments must provide more follow-through and support, making sure that the connections are in the right place. The UK government has adopted a different approach and will make sure that this deal really does deliver.”
In a media briefing on Thursday, Starmer welcomed the Israel-Gaza peace plan. “This will come as a profound relief for the hostages, their families and the civilian population in Gaza, who have been through unimaginable horrors and grief,” he said. “We will now work with our partners to ensure that this deal is implemented in full and without delay.”
The UK PM said that the deal would not have happened “without President Trump’s leadership”. He said he was “very clear about this” and wanted to reiterate it from an “informed position”: that of having played an important behind-the-scenes role in the negotiations while working with the US and the mediators.
In a discussion on the Russia-Ukraine war, Starmer was specifically questioned about asking PM Modi to stop buying Russian oil and stop funding Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. “We did discuss this,” he admitted. “We looked particularly at the outcome that we both want. PM Modi and I focus on ending this conflict and the various steps that could be taken to that end. We have set out the steps that we are taking in relation to energy, particularly on Russia’s shadow fleet and the work of the Coalition Of The Willing.”