July 4, 2024, 7:44:30 PM (IST)
Labour leader pledges ‘new strategic partnership’ with India
Keir Starmer, the human rights lawyer turned Labour leader, has pledged in his manifesto to pursue a “new strategic partnership” with India, including a free trade deal, if he is given the 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 much of his career in the legal profession before entering politics, first being elected as a Labour MP for London in 2015.
The 61-year-old father of two teenagers, whom he and his wife Victoria, a National Health Service (NHS) worker, have chosen to keep out of the political spotlight, has been credited with turning the party around from one of its worst ever electoral performances in the 2019 general election to just outside government.
The other turnaround Starmer has been working on was trying to rebuild Labour’s connection with the Indian diaspora, alienated under former leader Jeremy Corbyn because of a perceived anti-Indian stance on Kashmir.
This approach was enshrined in the party’s 2024 election manifesto, which pledges to seek 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.”
