Keir Starmer is on a two day visit to Mumbai, India and he has signed two major defence agreement with India in a combined £600 million deal.
This will see more than 700 jobs being created in Northern Ireland who will build air defence missiles which will be supplied to the Indian Army.
Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) which are being manufactured for Ukraine will be exported to India.
Starmer and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi have signed an Implementing Agreement for electric powered engine for naval vessels, this is valued at £250 million.
Starmer said the agreements with Mumbai is a “growing strategic partnership” between the two countries.
Defence Secretary John Healey said this will “boost UK business and jobs.”
He added, “As we deepen our defence relationship with India, we will harness the UK defence industry as an engine for growth, securing vital jobs in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK.”
Starmer said that India is a “global player,” he added, “We sit together in the Commonwealth, the G20, and we want to see India taking its rightful place on the UN Security Council too.”
Starmer and Modi discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Indian leader is a friend of Vladimir Putin and suggested that he wants to see an end to the war via “dialogue and diplomacy.”
However, India continues to buy oil and fuel from Russia which is funding Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the palatial residence Raj Bhavan, Starmer said, “The Prime Minister and I also discussed the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, the need for stability and security in the Indo-Pacific, and the need to co-operate in critical areas like climate and energy, including breaking away from dependence on fossil fuels.”
