Starmer Commends Trump's Gaza Truce Agreement – However Declines of Peace Prize Backing

The Prime Minister has asserted that the truce deal in Gaza "could not have happened without the leadership of Donald Trump," yet avoided supporting the American leader for a Nobel peace prize.

Ceasefire Deal Welcomed as a "Relief to the World"

The prime minister remarked that the initial stage of the deal would be a "relief to the world" and highlighted that the UK had contributed significantly behind the scenes with the US and mediators.

Addressing the media on the final day of his trade visit to India, the British leader emphasized that the agreement "needs to be put into action in full, without delay, and paired with the prompt removal of all limitations on life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza."

Nobel Prize Question Answered

But, when questioned if the Nobel committee should now grant Trump the prestigious award, Starmer implied that time was needed to determine if a durable peace could be attained.

"The priority now is to move forward and execute this ... my focus now is transitioning this from the phase it's at now ... and make a success of this, because that matters to me above all," he stated at a press conference in Mumbai.

Trade and Investment Announced During Trip to India

Starmer has hailed a series of agreements finalized during his tour to India – his maiden visit there – accompanied by 126 business leaders and arts figures. The trip signifies the implementation of the two nations' trade pact.

• No 10 has announced a slew of investments, from fintech to higher education facilities, as well as the production of three Bollywood films in the United Kingdom.
• On the final day, Starmer finalized a defence deal worth £350m for UK missiles, produced in the UK region, to be deployed by the Indian military.

"The shared history is profound, the human connections between our citizens are exceptionally strong," he remarked as he departed Mumbai. "Expanding upon our landmark agreement, we are reinventing this alliance for our times."

Digital Identification Initiative Studied

The Prime Minister has dedicated time in India studying the Indian digital ID system, including consulting principal architects who designed the widespread system used by more than 1 billion people for benefits, payments, and identification.

The prime minister hinted that the UK was interested in broadening the scope of digital identification beyond making it compulsory to verify eligibility to work. He proposed that the Britain would in time look at linking it to banking and transaction networks – on a optional basis – as well as for administrative tasks such as home loan and educational enrollments.

"It's been taken up on a voluntary basis [in India] in massive scale, partly because it ensures that you can access your own money, make payments so much more conveniently than is available with alternative methods," he noted.

"The efficiency with which it enables citizens here to utilize facilities, particularly banking options, is something that was acknowledged in our talks yesterday, and actually a Fintech conversation that we had as well. So we're examining those instances of how digital identification helps people with procedures that sometimes take excessive time and are too cumbersome and simplifies them for them."

Public Support for Changes

The Prime Minister acknowledged that the administration had to build public support for the initiatives to the British public, which have declined sharply in public approval since Starmer announced them.

"In my view now we need to go out and make that case the huge benefits ... And I think that the more people see the benefits that come with this ... as has happened in different nations, citizens say: 'That will simplify my daily routine,' and therefore I want to proceed with it," he stated.

Human Rights and International Relations Discussed

The Prime Minister confirmed he had raised a range of challenging issues with the Indian leader regarding civil liberties and relations with the Russian Federation, though he seemed to have made minimal progress. He acknowledged that he and Prime Minister Modi talked about how India was persisting to buy oil from Russia, which is subject to widespread western sanctions.

"For prime minister Modi and myself the focus on resolving this situation and the various steps will be implemented to that purpose," he commented. "This included a broad spectrum of dialogue, but we outlined the steps that we are taking in relation to energy."

The Prime Minister additionally said he had brought up the case of the British Sikh activist the individual, from Scotland, who has been detained in an Indian prison for almost a decade without undergoing a complete legal process. It is frequently mentioned as one of the most egregious cases of injustice among Britons still held overseas.

However, Starmer did not indicate much progress had been made. "Indeed, we did raise the diplomatic matters," he said. "We always raise them when we have the chance to do so. I should say that the foreign secretary is meeting the families in coming weeks, as well as raising it now."

Future Plans

The prime minister is largely anticipated to take a comparable business-oriented visit to the People's Republic of China in the next 12 months as part of a mission to improve relations between the United Kingdom and the Asian nation.

This bilateral connection is receiving attention because of the dismissal of a espionage investigation, reportedly occurring because the UK has been reluctant to provide new proof that China is deemed a threat.

The Prime Minister said the UK was eager to pursue additional commercial partnerships but emphasized that a commercial agreement with China was not on the agenda. "It is not a priority, for a trade deal as such, but our stance is to cooperate where we can, challenge where we must, and this has been the consistent policy of the government in regarding China."