MUMBAI, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. He aims to deepen economic ties with the country. This follows this year’s trade agreement.
Starmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday. He is bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal. The deal was agreed in May, signed in July, and is due to come into effect next year.
Starmer said that visas had blocked up previous efforts to seal a trade deal. They had reached an agreement which had no visa implications. He didn’t wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.
“That isn’t part of the plans,” he told reporters en route to India. He was asked about visas. He added the visit was “to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we’ve already struck”.
“Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas.”
Starmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on immigration. There is high public concern about the issue. His Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in polls.
He said visas would not be on the table in order to attract tech sector professionals from India. U.S. President Donald Trump increased fees on H-1B visas. However, he said more broadly he wanted to have “top talent” in Britain.
Starmer was asked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries who won’t take back foreign criminals. He was also questioned about people wanted to deport. He said it was a “non-issue” with India. There is a returns agreement. However, it was something he would look at more broadly.
“We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,” he said.
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