Leaders Starmer and Modi hail long-sought India-UK trade deal as historic

LONDON (AP) — The prime ministers of Britain and India sealed a hard-wrought trade agreement on Thursday that will slash tariffs on products including Scotch whisky and English gin shipped to India and Indian food and spices sent to the U.K.

Keir Starmer and Narendra Modi met at Chequers, the British leader's official country residence outside London, where the U.K. and Indian trade ministers, Jonathan Reynolds and Piyush Goyal, formally signed the agreement.

Starmer said it was "the biggest and most economically significant trade deal" Britain has made since leaving the European Union in 2020.

Modi said it was “a historic day in our bilateral relations.”

Alongside the agreement, the two countries announced almost 6 billion pounds ($8 billion) in trade and investment deals in areas including AI, aerospace and dairy products, and pledged to work more closely together in areas such as defense, migration, climate and health.

The trade agreement between India and Britain, the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, was announced in May, more than three years after negotiations started, and stalled, under Britain’s previous Conservative government.

It still must be ratified by Britain's Parliament.

The U.K. government said the deal will reduce India’s average tariff on British goods from 15% to 3%. Import taxes on whisky and gin will be halved from 150% to 75% before falling to 40% by year 10 of the deal. Automotive tariffs will fall from over 100% to 10% under a quota.

Britain said the deal is expected to increase bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds ($35 billion) annually from 2040 and add almost 5 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) a year to the British economy.

India’s Trade Ministry said in May that 99% of Indian exports will face no import duty under the deal, which applies to products including clothes, shoes and food.

Formal talks began in 2022 on a free trade agreement that then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed as a key goal after Britain left the EU. Johnson famously promised to have a deal done by the Diwali holiday in October of that year.

The two countries held 13 rounds of negotiations without a breakthrough before talks were suspended while both nations held general elections in 2024.

Modi was re-elected and Britain replaced the Conservative government with one led by Starmer’s center-left Labour Party.

Almost 2 million people in the U.K. have roots in India, where Britain was the colonial power until independence in 1947.

Starmer said Britain and India "have unique bonds of history, of family and of culture, and we want to strengthen our relationship further, so that it is even more ambitious, modern and focused on the long term.”

Speaking as England and India face off in a cricket test series, Modi sad the sport was “a great metaphor for our partnership.”

“There may be a swing and a miss at times but we always play with a straight bat,” he said. “We are committed to building a high-scoring, solid partnership.”

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet for bilateral talks at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he arrives at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street, London, to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament, Wednesday July 16, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Parliament House on the opening day of monsoon session, in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, right, and Piyush Goyal, Minister of Industry and Supply of India, shake hands after they signed a free trade agreement at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet for bilateral talks at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he arrives at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street, London, to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament, Wednesday July 16, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Parliament House on the opening day of monsoon session, in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)