Starmer exits, but UK-India ties stay firm after landmark trade deal

London,UPDATED: Jun 22, 2026 17:48 IST

Keir Starmer’s resignation as British Prime Minister has set off a Labour Party leadership contest, but British Indian experts said on Monday that he leaves the UK-India relationship on a strong footing. They pointed in particular to the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with India during his tenure.

Starmer’s departure starts a process for Labour to elect a new leader, with newly elected MP Andy Burnham seen as the frontrunner to move into 10 Downing Street in the coming weeks. The formal contest is due to run until mid-July, though Burnham’s early support has raised the possibility of a successor being in place well before the expected September timeline.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer and co-chair of the India All Party Parliamentary Group, said Starmer had delivered a key milestone in ties with India. “When it comes to India, it is under his prime ministership that the UK-India Free Trade Agreement was signed, something that we started negotiating way back in January 2022,” he said.

Bilimoria said India was “very, very important to him as a special relationship and a special country where the UK is concerned and always will be”. He added, “Whoever the next leader of the Labour Party is, they will have India as a top priority and they will see the future of the UK-India relationship between the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world and India, the fastest growing major economy in the world, as being paramount.”

Bilimoria, who is also chair and regional coordinator for Europe of the Chamber of Commerce in the UK, described Starmer as a “decent individual” who listened on the bilateral partnership. “For nine years, I was saying to prime minister after prime minister, whether it was Boris Johnson, whether it was Rishi Sunak, take a big business delegation to India because it will make a huge impact. And none of them did it, but Keir Starmer listened and in October last year we took a huge business delegation to Mumbai,” he said.

Uday Nagaraju, a tech entrepreneur and founder of AI Policy Labs who recently became one of the newest British Indian Labour peers in the House of Lords, said Starmer had “helped deliver a major step forward in UK-India relations” with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. “I think that our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, leaves office with dignity and with a serious record. He restored Labour to government, put stability and economic credibility back at the centre of British politics,” said Lord Nagaraju.

Nagaraju said Starmer had kept his pre-election promise on India. “He promised before the 2024 general election that a Labour government under his premiership would reset the relationship with India, which he achieved. The credit for CETA goes to Keir and, of course, the Indian government as well,” he said. “I think the next Labour prime minister will and should build on that platform of growth, security, clean energy skills, tech, AI, and a deeper strategic partnership with India,” he added.

Virendra Sharma, one of Labour’s longest-serving British Indian MPs who represented Ealing Southall until the last election, said the “writing was on the wall” for Starmer after the party’s poor local election performance last month. He said the next prime minister should learn from Starmer’s tenure and “not repeat those mistakes”. “I have seen changes within the Labour Party and other governments as well during my 55-year span as an MP. These things happen in politics,” said Sharma.

Sharma said there would be continuity on India. “I am one of those MPs of Indian origin who always raised the importance of India and Britain, two democratic countries, coming together and taking the FTA forward. There will be no changes on that front. I’m confident that the new leader will make sure that the July 15 date (for FTA implementation) is honoured and taken forward,” he said.

The Labour leadership race requires prospective candidates to secure the backing of at least 81 MPs to enter the contest. With Burnham emerging as a strong favourite among party members, experts said Starmer’s successor could take charge soon, inheriting a UK-India partnership that has already seen the trade agreement concluded and is expected to remain a priority.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends