NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his British counterpart Keir Starmer on Thursday on the sidelines of Starmer’s first official go to to India. The discussions centered on strengthening cooperation in essential minerals, a key space for the worldwide vitality transition and rising technologies.Following the talks, PM Modi introduced the institution of the Critical Minerals Industry Guild to safe resilient provide chains and promote green technologies. The two leaders additionally agreed to launch Phase II of the UK-India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory, geared toward guaranteeing sustainable entry to important sources.“We decided to establish an Industry Guild and Supply Chain Observatory for cooperation on critical minerals,” PM Modi mentioned after the assembly.The discussions, held in Mumbai, additionally lined progress on the long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and partnerships in protection, digital infrastructure, training and expertise.PM Modi described India and the UK as “natural partners,” emphasizing that their rising partnership has develop into a “crucial foundation for global stability and economic progress.”Starmer, accompanied by a 125-member delegation of enterprise, tutorial, and cultural leaders, mentioned the go to was geared toward “doubling down on the potential of the trade deal” to create development and jobs in each nations.The proposed FTA, anticipated to be finalized inside a 12 months, will decrease tariffs on items corresponding to Scotch whisky, English gin and Indian spices. It may improve bilateral commerce by $34 billion, in response to the British authorities.The two leaders additionally mentioned Indo-Pacific stability, the struggle in Ukraine and developments in Gaza with Starmer welcoming the primary section of a peace plan between Israel and Hamas.As a part of the outcomes, each side additionally introduced the institution of a new satellite tv for pc campus at IIT-ISM Dhanbad by a UK college, reflecting deepening collaboration in larger training and analysis.