English Translation of Prime Minister's address at the India-UK CEO Forum (October 09, 2025)

Your Excellency, Prime Minister Starmer,
Business leaders from India and The UK,

Namaskar!

It is a great pleasure to attend today's meeting of the India-UK CEOs Forum. I would like to begin by thanking Prime Minister Starmer for sharing his valuable insights.

Over the years, thanks to the continued efforts of all of you business leaders, this Forum has become an important pillar of the India-UK Strategic Partnership. Listening to your views today makes me even more confident that we will continue to grow as "natural partners". I congratulate you all on this achievement.

Friends,

Amid the current global instability, this year has been unprecedented in strengthening the stability of India-UK relations. During my visit to the UK in July this year, we signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). I deeply appreciate and congratulate my friend Prime Minister Starmer for his commitment and vision for this historic achievement. This is not just a trade agreement, but a roadmap for shared progress, shared prosperity, and shared peoples of two of the world's largest economies. Beyond market access, this agreement will empower MSMEs in both countries and create new employment opportunities for millions of young people.

Friends,

To help CETA reach its full potential, I would like to suggest four new dimensions.

C - Commerce& Economy
E - Education & People-to-People Ties
T - Technology & Innovation
A - Aspirations

Today, our bilateral trade stands at approximately 56 billion dollars. We have set a target to double it by 2030. I am confident that we can achieve this goal even ahead of schedule.

Friends,

Today, India offers policy stability, predictable regulation, and large-scale demand. This creates unprecedented opportunities across sectors such as infrastructure, pharma, energy, and finance. It is also a matter of great pleasure that nine UK universities are establishing their campuses in India. In the times ahead, partnerships between academia and industry will become the greatest driving force of our innovation economy.

Friends,

Today, countless new opportunities are emerging for collaboration between us in sectors such as Telecom, AI, Biotechnology, Quantum, Semiconductors, Cyber, and Space. In the defense sector as well, we are moving forward towards co-design and co-production. The time has now come to rapidly convert all these possibilities into concrete cooperation. In strategic sectors like critical minerals, rare earths, and APIs, we should advance in a structured manner. This will give our partnership a futuristic direction.

Friends,

You have all witnessed India's capabilities in the FinTech sector. Today, nearly fifty percent of the world's real-time digital transactions are happening in India. By combining UK's expertise in financial services with India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), we can create solutions that benefit all of humanity.

Friends,

To infuse new energy into our partnership, Prime Minister Starmer and I had announced the Vision 2035. It serves as a blueprint of our shared ambitions. Between open and democratic societies like India and the United Kingdom, there is no area where our cooperation cannot expand. The combination of India's talent and scale with the UK's R&D and expertise holds the potential to deliver transformative outcomes. Your partnership and support will be crucial in realizing these aspirations and ambitions in a targeted and time-bound manner.

Friends,

Many of you companies are already present in India. Today, wide-ranging reforms are being undertaken across India's economy, with a strong focus on Ease of Doing Business by reducing compliances. Recently, we announced GST reforms, which will give new strength to the growth story of our middle class and MSMEs, and will also open up greater opportunities for all of you.

Friends,

Infrastructure development is a priority for us. We are investing in next-generation physical infrastructure. By 2030, We are moving rapidly towards our target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. I am pleased to share that we are opening up the nuclear power sector for private participation. All these initiatives have created new opportunities to elevate India-UK cooperation to greater heights. I invite you to be a part of India's growth journey.

I urge business leaders from India and the UK to come together to identify sectors where we can jointly become number one globally. It could be in FinTech, Green Hydrogen, Semiconductors, or Start-ups or any other sector. Let India and the UK set global benchmarks together!

Once again, I extend my sincere thanks to all of you for taking the time to be here today.

Mumbai
October 09, 2025

DISCLAIMER - This is the approximate translation of Prime Minister's remarks. Original remarks were delivered in Hindi.