July 4, 2024 19:44:30 (IST)
Labour leader pledges ‘new strategic partnership’ with India
Keir Starmer, the human rights lawyer turned Labour leader, has pledged to pursue a “new strategic partnership” with India, including an FTA, if he is given a mandate to form a Labour-led government in Thursday’s general election.
Sir Keir, who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his services to law and criminal justice, spent most of his career in law before entering politics and was first elected as a Labour MP for London in 2015.
The 61-year-old, a father of two teenage children with his wife Victoria, an NHS worker, has chosen to keep his children out of the political spotlight but is credited with turning around the party’s fortunes after one of its worst poll results in the 2019 general election, to the brink of winning power.
Another pivot under Starmer has been to rebuild Labour’s ties with Indian immigrants, who had become estranged under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was seen as taking an anti-India stance on Kashmir.
This approach is entrenched in the party’s 2024 election manifesto, which promises to “pursue a new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation in areas such as security, education, technology and climate change.”
