By Aveek Banerjee,News18,Siddhant Mishra

Copyright news18

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will embark on his first visit to India in the second week of October at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government sources told CNN-News18. His visit is significant since India and the UK signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in July.
After over three years of intense negotiations, India and the UK signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London on July 24, with the goal of doubling trade to $120 billion by 2030.
This would be Starmer’s first official visit to India since coming to office in July last year. He is expected to hold talks with PM Modi on matters pertaining to trade, technology and defence. This would also provide an opportunity to take stock of the developments concerning the FTA, which is in the process of ratification before coming into effect in 2026.
The meeting would also come amid unprecedented geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. While the UK agreed on a non-binding deal with the United States on reducing tariffs, India – facing 25% extra tariffs over Russian oil purchases – has resumed talks on a trade deal with Washington.
India-UK FTA
Under the India-UK FTA, India stands to benefit from the duty elimination of tariffs on approximately 99% of tariff lines, covering nearly 100% of the trade value and opening up significant opportunities to boost bilateral trade between India and the UK. In return, India has agreed to lower or eliminate duties on around 90 per cent of goods imported from the UK.
On the Indian side, sectors such as textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery, chemicals, auto components, and engineering goods will gain from zero or reduced tariffs when entering the UK market. These sectors collectively account for a large share of India’s labour-intensive manufacturing base.
This marks India’s most important trade agreement with a Western nation and represents the UK’s most comprehensive deal since its departure from the European Union. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has described it as a “game-changing” deal that will benefit every section of Indian society.