Labour’s election win sparks hopes for stronger, more ‘pragmatic’ India-UK ties

The Labour Party has had a tense relationship with successive Indian governments over the years. Under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, the party passed a motion in September 2019 calling for “international intervention in Kashmir and a UN led-referendum”.

Shairee Malhotra, an associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi, said that under Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party had reformed itself from a more left-wing to a rather centrist party.

“This pragmatic direction bodes well for India-UK ties, which are already on an upswing, under a Labour government. Unlike Jeremy Corbyn, who had a habit of wrangling New Delhi on the Kashmir issue, Starmer has emphasised that he would prioritise ties with India and even gone so far as to admit mistakes that Labour previously made in its India policy,” Malhotra said.

After Corbyn’s exit, Labour adopted the UK’s official position that Indian-administered Kashmir was a bilateral issue.

During the election campaign, Starmer pledged a “new strategic partnership” with India to mend relations.

In meetings with the Indian diaspora and public addresses, he affirmed that Kashmir was an internal issue to be resolved by India and Pakistan. Starmer’s manifesto includes trade agreements and cooperation in technology, security, education and environmental issues with India.

New Delhi has been cautious of the Labour Party’s lean towards Pakistan and its stance on the Kashmir dispute, largely due to the significant presence of the Pakistani diaspora in the UK, who traditionally vote Labour.

Some Labour members of parliament, such as Tanmanjit Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill, have also shown support for the separatist Khalistan Sikh movement in the UK.

C. Raja Mohan, a visiting