With PM Starmer’s visit, UK & India launch new era of defence co-creation

Richard McCallum and Gaurav Kumar

In the last week of October, the UK Prime Minister arrived in Mumbai with a record delegation of 126 CEOs and business leaders. Demand for seats was so strong that British Airways switched to a larger aircraft.

Amid glamorous announcements—Yash Raj Films committing to three new blockbusters in the UK, and semiconductor firm Graphcore investing USD1.3bn in a Bengaluru AI campus—the sense of occasion was reinforced when the government of Maharashtra installed 5,700 posters across Mumbai to welcome the visiting Prime Minister.

What’s less known is that the UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by HMS Prince of Wales, also visited Mumbai, fresh from participating in the joint Indian Navy and Royal Navy Konkan-25 naval exercise.

In fact, the PM’s 48 hours in India constituted one of the most significant defence visits in a generation. Two major milestones were announced: a GBP350million deal for Thales in the UK to deliver Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) for the Indian Army, and the signing of an Implementing Arrangement to advance U