This article covers the political and strategic relationship between India and the United Kingdom: the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the change of government in the UK in 2024, meetings and visits by the two Prime Ministers and other leaders, defence cooperation and the Technology Security Initiative. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026, which states its position as on 20 July 2026.

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, historical ties between India and the UK have, over the years, transformed into a mutually beneficial relationship. At a virtual India-UK Summit on 4 May 2021, Prime Minister Modi and the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to "a new and transformational India-UK 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'".

At the same Summit they agreed an India-UK Roadmap 2030 to steer cooperation for the next ten years.

Change of government in the UK

In the UK general elections held on 4 July 2024, the Labour Party won 412 out of 650 seats and formed a government for the first time since 2010, with Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. The brief notes that the Labour Party's election manifesto had stated that it would seek a new strategic partnership with India. This was to include a Free Trade Agreement and deeper relations in security, education, technology and climate change.

Meetings and visits of the Prime Ministers

The two Prime Ministers held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Brazil on 18 November 2024, and of the G7 Summit in Canada in June 2025. They met again on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, France, on 16 June 2026.

On the conclusion of the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement, and at the invitation of Prime Minister Starmer, Prime Minister Modi visited the UK on 23-24 July 2025. The two leaders witnessed the signing of the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and adopted a new Vision 2035 to steer bilateral relations for the next ten years.

Prime Minister Starmer travelled to India on 08-09 October 2025, on his first official visit to India as Prime Minister. He took part in the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai. On 31 July 2026, Prime Minister Modi received a telephone call from UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and congratulated him on assuming office.

Other recent visits

The UK Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, the AI Minister, Kanishka Narayan, and the former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, took part in the AI Impact Summit held in Delhi from 17-19 February 2026.

During the visit of the UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, from 3-4 June 2026, the two sides inaugurated the India-UK Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory (GSCO).

Defence and security

The brief states that defence engagement between India and the UK covers a broad spectrum of activities:

  • joint military exercises and port calls
  • defence technological cooperation
  • promoting Make in India
  • subject matter expert exchanges for exchange of best practices (SMEEs)
  • defence education
  • defence procurement

During Prime Minister Modi's visit in July 2025, the two sides adopted a ten-year Defence Industrial Roadmap for the co-development and co-production of key defence products and platforms.

Dialogue mechanisms such as the 2+2 Dialogue and the Defence Consultative Group (DCG) meet regularly to take forward discussions on defence cooperation. Joint military exercises and exchanges of military personnel also take place regularly.

Technology Security Initiative

A new Technology Security Initiative (TSI) was signed in July 2024 to bring sharper focus to collaboration in critical and emerging technologies (CET) across priority sectors. According to the brief, it seeks to reinforce existing collaborative efforts in various technologies, broaden the mandates of existing mechanisms and establish new mechanisms for cooperation.

An anniversary Statement was later issued during a visit by the Indian Prime Minister to the UK, to mark the achievements of the TSI in its first year. The brief states that the Statement underscored the potential of the TSI to deliver innovations and generate investment across the entire technology value chain.