Reuters

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&#39;s trade agreement.&nbsp;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&#39;t wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday.&nbsp;&quot;That isn&#39;t part of the plans,&quot; he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was &quot;to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we&#39;ve already struck.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas.&quot;&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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 &quot;top talent&quot; in Britain.&nbsp;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 &quot;non-issue&quot; with India, as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly.&nbsp;&quot;We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements,&quot; he said.&nbsp;British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is accompanied by over 100 leaders from the business, cultural, and academic sectors.&nbsp;The deal between the world&#39;s fifth- and sixth-largest economies aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040.

India

Starmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday, bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal, which was agreed in May, signed in July and due to come into effect next year.

No more visas for Indian workers, says UK PM

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Britain on Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit, White House announced in a statement on Tuesday.&quot;A lot of things here warm my heart,&quot; the 79-year-old Republican told reporters after he arrived with First Lady Melania Trump. &quot;It&#39;s a very special place.&quot;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1968052852708016509&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=985cdc273bab42a0e2e6d62bc4e8095c5a4116fd&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 755px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle for a lavish banquet and carriage ride on Wednesday, before Trump meets Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his country residence on Thursday, AFP reported.In a sign of the pomp and pageantry to come, a guard of honor greeted the Trumps as they stepped off Air Force One at Stansted Airport near London.Trump then expressed his admiration for the British monarch.&lsquo;A very big day&rsquo;&quot;He&#39;s been a friend of mine for a long time, and everyone respects him, and they love him,&quot; Trump said as he arrived by helicopter at Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador&#39;s residence in London, where he will spend the night.&quot;Tomorrow&#39;s going to be a very big day.&quot;Trump is the first U.S. president to be invited for two state visits, after previously being hosted by Queen Elizabeth II during his last term in office in 2019 -- as Britain tries to keep the so-called special relationship alive.The British government has been unapologetic about its efforts to get on the right side of Trump, whose mother was Scottish and who owns a number of golf courses in the UK.But the British public will be kept far away from Trump, with the visit taking place entirely behind closed doors and heavy security.Shadow of Epstein scandalA large anti-Trump demonstration has been called in London on Wednesday, while protesters projected images of Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto the towers of Windsor Castle late Tuesday.The shadow of the Epstein scandal has hung over Trump for weeks after his administration declined to release files on the issue.It has also embroiled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who sacked his ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson on the eve of the visit over the envoy&#39;s emails to Epstein.Starmer&#39;s government is however counting on the sheer scale of the state visit to keep Trump onside.Largest military showIn Windsor on Wednesday, Trump will get a ceremonial carriage ride and a flypast by both UK and U.S. jets in what officials call the largest military show for a state visit in living memory, AFP reported.In the evening King Charles will host Trump for a lavish state dinner where both men will give speeches.Trump may also relish the royal part of the visit as a chance to escape a turbulent period at home, where the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has caused turmoil.$30B over four yearsPolitics will take over again on Thursday when Starmer hosts Trump at his country residence Chequers for talks focusing on trade and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.The visit has been timed to line up with announcements of several investments in Britain -- the latest being a pledge by Microsoft to spend $30 billion over four years.Starmer needs the visit to go well after a miserable few days in which some in his Labour party have openly questioned whether he can remain as leader over the Mandelson resignation.Downing Street has said Trump&#39;s visit would see the &quot;unbreakable friendship&quot; between the countries &quot;reach new heights&quot;, AFP reported.Trade tops agendaStarmer will host Trump at Chequers, his country residence, on Thursday to discuss various matters, including security in Ukraine. Starmer&rsquo;s ultimate aim, however, is to ensure that Trump makes good on his promise to lower tariffs on steel and aluminum, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.The UK was the first country to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the Trump administration in May. Under that deal, the U.S. planned to reduce tariffs on aluminum and steel from 25% to zero, but that has not happened yet.The two countries are also expected to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to develop small nuclear projects, which could, in some cases, help to power new artificial intelligence data centres. On Monday, Starmer announced a joint U.S.-UK project to build a fleet of small modular reactors.Potential technology partnership&nbsp;A major talking point will be a new potential technology partnership, involving enhanced U.S. investment in the UK and greater British cooperation with Silicon Valley on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, Al Jazeera reported.Nvidia, OpenAI and Google are expected to announce investment deals as part of the partnership, according to the Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, the British government recently secured 1.25 billion pounds ($1.7bn) in private investment pledges from PayPal and Bank of America.Elsewhere, private equity firm Blackstone plans to invest 100 billion pounds ($136bn) into British assets over the next decade, with a focus on physical infrastructure. The investment will be part of a previously announced $500bn package of investment into Europe.

Americas

United Kingdom

U.S. President Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for an unprecedented second state visit, marked by royal pageantry and talks on trade and Ukraine and Gaza wars.

Articles tagged with "Keir Starmer"

No more visas for Indian workers, says UK PM

U.S. President Trump arrives in UK for historic second state visit