MUMBAI: Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year's trade agreement.
Starmer said that the visa issue had previously blocked efforts to seal a trade deal, and that, having reached an agreement with no visa implications, he didn't wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.
"That isn't part of the plans," he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was "to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we've already struck."
"Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas."
Starmer is trying to adopt a more restrictive stance on immigration amid high public concern about the issue, as his Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in the polls.
He said visas would not be on the table to attract tech sector professionals from India, after US President Donald Trump hiked fees on H-1B visas. However, he said that he wanted to have "top talent" in Britain.
Asked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries that refuse to take back foreign criminals or people wanted for deportation, Starmer said it was a "non-issue" with India, as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly.
"We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements," he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is accompanied by over 100 leaders from the business, cultural, and academic sectors.
The deal between the world's fifth- and sixth-largest economies aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040.
