Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent warm birthday greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin just hours before Keir Starmer's visit, putting the British prime minister in an awkward position, Bloomberg reports.
„Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a warm birthday greeting to Russian President Vladimir Putin just hours before Keir Starmer's arrival, marking an awkward start to a visit that was initially intended as a trade one“, the report said.
Starmer himself avoided answering a question about Modi's phone call with the Russian leader at a press conference, unsuccessfully trying to joke.
„For the record, I did not send Putin any birthday greetings“, he said.
The agency recalls that Keir Starmer's visit is the first by a British leader to India since 2016.
Yesterday, Modi wished Putin a happy birthday on social media platform X and expressed his gratitude for his commitment to strengthening the partnership between the two countries. The Indian Prime Minister also spoke to the Russian President on the phone, during which he congratulated him on his 73rd birthday and conveyed his best wishes for good health and success in all his endeavors. During the conversation, Modi also expressed his desire to welcome Putin to India for the 23rd annual Russia-India summit.
Starmer is accompanied by a trade delegation to India to promote the trade agreement, which was agreed in May, signed in July and is expected to enter into force next year, BNR reported.
The UK will not seek a visa agreement with India, Starmer said, pointing out that this issue has blocked previous efforts to conclude a trade agreement. The British prime minister is reluctant to raise the issue again in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When asked whether he would stop issuing visas to people from countries that do not take back criminals or people his government wants to deport, Starmer said that was not a problem with India as the two countries have a return agreement.
Keir Starmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on immigration amid strong public concerns about the issue, as his Labour Party lags behind the populist Reform UK party in opinion polls, Reuters notes.