Starmer and Modi meet on second day of India trade mission

Sir Keir Starmer is meeting Narendra Modi for face-to-face talks on the second and final day of his trade mission to India, with Vladimir Putin likely to be on the agenda.

The Prime Minister and his Indian counterpart are meeting at Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor of Maharashtra, the state of which Mumbai is the capital.

The pair shook hands in front of a row of British and Indian national flags on a lawn surrounded by palm trees and walked around the gardens of the residence before heading inside for their meeting.

Alongside the new trade deal between the two nations, the two prime ministers are expected to discuss the Indian leader’s relationship with Russia and the long-term detention of a British citizen.

Sir Keir has so far declined to answer questions about Mr Modi’s close relationship with Mr Putin, and India’s continued purchase of Russian fossil fuels during his visit to Mumbai.

Western nations who back Ukraine are attempting to tighten the screw of sanctions on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of ships, which it uses to illicitly sell oil and gas.

Sir Keir has insisted the UK remains among Kyiv’s biggest supporters, but suggested Britain’s relationship with India is also stronger than ever.

Meanwhile the family of Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, near Glasgow, are calling on the Prime Minister to take “decisive steps” to secure the 38-year-old’s release in his talks with Mr Modi.

Sir Keir has insisted the Government is raising the detainee’s case at “every level”.

Mr Johal was bundled into the back of an unmarked car and arrested in November 2017 in India, just weeks after his wedding there.

The British Sikh has claimed to be subject to torture, and his imprisonment was recognised by a UN panel as arbitrary detention in 2022.

He was acquitted earlier this year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group, but he still remains in jail and faces federal charges from the Indian authorities.

His elder brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, urged the Government to reveal what it means when it tells the family it is raising Mr Johal’s case with the Indian authorities.

He added: “If it means more of the same, he will fail Jagtar like all the others.

“But I’m holding on to hope that it means decisive steps are being taken, behind the scenes, to bring my brother home.”

Sir Keir insisted he has “not in the slightest” forgotten Mr Johal’s case during the trade mission.

The trip to Mumbai has seen the Prime Minister promote the UK-India trade deal he signed with Mr Modi in July, said to be worth £4.8 billion each year to the British economy.

Sir Keir has urged the 125 British trade delegates joining him on the mission to forge new trade pathways due to the relaxed tariffs in the deal.

New flights between London, Manchester and Indian cities were announced ahead of the trade mission, and a Bollywood studio has agreed to produce three films in the UK as of next year.

Some 7,000 jobs will be created in the UK as a result of Indian investment from newly struck trading arrangements, Downing Street claimed.

Some 64 Indian companies, including in engineering, technology and the creative industries, have agreed deals worth some £1.3 billion to Britain during the visit, with No 10 pointing to the reassurance provided by the UK-India free trade agreement as a catalyst for the pacts.

The Prime Minister has received a warm welcome in Mumbai during the visit, with some 5,700 posters, banners and billboards bearing his face and greeting messages placed along the city’s roads.

Mr Modi is understood to have told the state government of Maharashtra to ensure Sir Keir feels welcome in India.

A senior UK official described it as “a real signal of modern India meeting modern Britain”, adding: “And there is so much more potential. This is just the beginning.”