Labour victory in UK rings alarm bells in India
Image credit X @keir_starmer
Labour party’s past association with Kashmir issue raises concerns in India
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, July 5: Keir Starmer has led the Labour Party to a landslide victory in the UK elections. Starmer has said that the change in the UK has begun.
The incumbent UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, conceded defeat on Friday. Starmer in his victory speech asserted that the people have voted for change.
The victory of the Labour Party has begun ringing alarm bells in India. The Labour in the UK had been associated in the past for raising the issue of Kashmir.
The Labour also has a legacy of being pro-Pakistan in its South Asia approach. But Starmer has said that he changed the Labour Party.
Also Read: Keir Starmer labours anger votes for landslide win in UK
“I have changed the Labour Party. If you put your trust in me, I will change the country,” Starmer posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are not yet impressed with promises of change by Starmer. They continue to recall the legacy of the Labour in South Asia foreign policy.
“Change in democracies is inescapable. (The) UK has elected a Labour government after 14 years. How Keir Starmer manages his domestic agenda is for Britons to assess. What should concern India is the possibility that an assertive Muslim lobby will now seek to include Kashmir to its Gaza agenda,” said Swapan Dasgupta, former Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP.
He raised the concerns that the separatists in the UK will gain patronage from the new regime in London. “Khalistan is will also try & muddy the waters further. If the Labour govt succumbs to these pressures, India-UK relations will take a nosedive. It is best to flag the issue on Day 1 itself,” Dasgupta posted on X.
Also Read: India & China to step up efforts to disengage in Eastern Ladakh
If the BJP is showing concern at the rise of the Labour, the Left in India is also anxious at the rise of ‘Right’ in the UK politics. The CPI (ML) leader Dipankar underlined that the UK election verdict has endorsed the rise of the right-wing politics.
But Starmer in the manifesto of the Labour party had promised to strengthened the India-UK relations. The Labour had promised to clinch the India-UK foreign trade agreement at the earliest.
India and the UK had failed to clinch the FTA despite the leadership of the two nations seeking accelerated conclusion of the talks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared cordial relations with Sunak.
Join WhatsApp channel of The Raisina Hills
About The Author
