New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited India for the primary time since taking workplace final yr. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai, India’s monetary hub, accompanied by a delegation of British enterprise and cultural leaders.
The principle focus of the go to was India’s huge digital ID system, Aadhaar, which has issued greater than 1.3 billion IDs. Starmer’s go to got here two weeks after he introduced plans for the UK’s personal digital ID system, the Brit Card. He described Aadhaar as a “huge success” whereas defending the UK initiative, which has confronted criticism from rights teams.
Throughout his go to, he additionally met Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former head of the Aadhaar undertaking, and sought insights into how India constructed and maintained the system and what classes might apply to the UK.
Why UK Needs A Digital ‘Brit Card’
Starmer’s Brit Card is aimed toward combating unlawful work and irregular migration in the UK. The system will present residents a approach to rapidly confirm their identification for accessing authorities providers.
“A digital ID system will make it more durable to work illegally on this nation, making our borders safer,” Starmer mentioned final month.
He added that the cardboard would provide “numerous advantages, like having the ability to show your identification to entry key providers swiftly”.
Regardless of its proposed benefits, the thought has confronted sturdy opposition. Greater than 2.2 million folks signed a petition towards the cardboard. The petition described the Brit Card as a “step in direction of mass surveillance and digital management” and warned that “nobody ought to be compelled to register with a state-controlled ID system”.
Starmer highlighted the comfort the system might convey. “I do suppose that we might achieve a big benefit,” he mentioned and defined that managing a number of paperwork for on a regular basis duties typically results in frustration.
How India’s Aadhaar Works
Aadhaar is bigger and extra detailed than the deliberate Brit Card. It collects fingerprints, eye scans, photographs, dwelling addresses and telephone numbers, processing roughly 80 million authentications day by day.
Every Indian citizen receives a 12-digit ID, which is used for opening financial institution accounts, getting SIM playing cards and accessing authorities advantages. Launched in 2009, Aadhaar has issued over 1.3 billion IDs and claims to have saved practically $10 billion in administration prices. Critics argue that this determine could also be exaggerated.
UK officers clarified that the Brit Card is not going to retailer biometric knowledge. As an alternative, it is going to deal with fundamental identification verification and inclusivity.
Considerations Round Aadhaar
Aadhaar has skilled a number of large-scale knowledge leaks. At occasions, the leaks uncovered private info for as much as 85 % of the inhabitants.
In January 2025, India allowed personal firms entry to the database for authentication. Critics warned that this entry might result in misuse of non-public and biometric knowledge.
“The core drawback with Aadhaar was conceptual – centralisation of digital ID and accompanying biometric info that ought to have be prevented,” mentioned Vrinda Bhandari, Supreme Court docket lawyer and digital rights skilled.
She added that linking Aadhaar to different databases will increase threat.
Public confidence in Aadhaar stays low. A survey earlier this yr confirmed 87 % of residents imagine their private knowledge is already uncovered or compromised, up from 72 % in 2022.
Critics additionally argued that Aadhaar generally complicates welfare supply for marginalised residents. Technical points with fingerprints or web connectivity have often delayed pension or profit funds. The Supreme Court docket permitted Aadhaar for welfare and taxes however restricted its use in schooling and by personal firms.
International Affect Of Aadhaar
A number of international locations have seemed to Aadhaar as a mannequin. Kenya launched the Huduma Namba undertaking in 2019, drawing closely from Aadhaar, however confronted authorized challenges over privateness and inclusion.
Different nations, together with the Philippines, Morocco and Ethiopia, additionally studied Aadhaar’s method.
In the UK, rights teams raised privateness issues in regards to the Brit Card. Silkie Carlo, director of Massive Brother Watch, warned that the system “will make Britain much less free” and will increase into mass surveillance throughout citizenship, advantages and well being methods.
Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy responded that ministers had “no intention of pursuing a dystopian mess”.
Commerce And Funding Talks
Modi and Starmer additionally mentioned boosting bilateral commerce. Greater than 100 UK enterprise and college leaders accompanied the British prime minister, following the July free-trade settlement aimed toward doubling commerce to $120 billion by 2030.
Addressing the UK delegation, Modi mentioned, “India’s dynamism and the UK’s experience collectively create a novel synergy.”
Starmer projected that new investments would create 1000’s of high-skilled jobs.
The 2 nations introduced new initiatives, together with an India-UK connectivity and innovation centre, a joint AI improvement centre and a vital minerals guild. Sixty-four Indian firms pledged 1.3 billion kilos ($1.73 billion) in UK funding.
Challenges In The Partnership
London and New Delhi don’t agree on all points. The UK has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, whereas India maintains strategic autonomy and continues to purchase Russian oil. Starmer and Modi even have variations concerning Khalistan activism in the UK and former media portrayals of India.
Regardless of these variations, either side emphasised collaboration in commerce, know-how and innovation. Starmer’s go to signalled a brand new section in UK-India relations.