PM Modi will meet his UK counterpart Keir Starmer in Mumbai. File image/AP

While addressing a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK PM Keir Starmer lauded India's growth story. On Thursday, Starmer's visit marked a breakthrough in India-UK ties, calling New Delhi's growth over the years remarkable.

The British Prime Minister is on his first visit to India after coming to power in the 2024 UK General Elections. The two leaders met in the country's financial capital, Mumbai, where Starmer is on a two-day trade mission with the largest ever delegation of more than 100 CEOs, entrepreneurs, university vice-chancellors and cultural leaders.

During Starmer's trip, the Indian and the British delegation would discuss ways to expand trade ties after both nations signed a landmark trade deal in July this year. The prime minister has been given a rousing welcome in India, with thousands of photos of him and Modi lining parts of Mumbai.

"PM Modi, it was an honour for me to host you in the UK in July and I am so delighted to be making this return visit, just a few months later…," Starmer said at the start of the address. Starmer went on to laud the modern relationship between India and the United Kingdom.

'We are building something here'

Starmer emphasised the importance of the India-UK trade deal. "We are building something here, we are creating a new modern partnership focused on the future and availing the opportunities, and we are doing it together. That is why we struck the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in July, a breakthrough moment - years in the making, slashing tariffs, increasing access to each other's markets to drive growth and create jobs for our people and making life in both our nations," Starmer said in the Thursday press briefing.

"Beyond the words of the page of the Agreement, is the spirit of the confidence that it has given to our two great countries to work even more closely together, something which we have seen during the course of this visit here," he added.

This is a developing story.