Kashmir a bilateral issue for India, Pakistan: UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer

London: Labour Party’s Keir Starmer, UK’s newly-elected Leader of the Opposition, on Thursday said Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully and stressed that such divisive issues from the subcontinent should not be allowed to divide communities in Britain.

In an attempt to reach out to the Indian diaspora and distance the party from a perceived hostile stance under the previous leadership, Mr Starmer pledged to build stronger business links with India during his first dialogue with the Labour Friends of India (LFIN) group in London on Thursday.

“We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here. Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian parliament. Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully,” said Mr Starmer, in a statement following the meeting.

“A Labour government under my leadership will be determined to build even stronger business links with India and to cooperate on the global stage on issues such as climate change,” he said.

It marks a strategic step to draw a line under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and move Labour away from some of the controversial actions widely perceived as anti-India by the diaspora population. The most glaring was a resolution passed at the annual party conference in September last year that purported to seek international intervention in Kashmir.

The resolution was widely seen as influencing much of the 1.5-million diaspora vote in the December 2019 general election, which resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Labour Party.

“Britons of Indian origin contribute so much to the UK and to the Labour Party. I’m committed to working closely with Labour Friends of India to rebuild trust with the community,” Mr Starmer said, adding that he would encourage more British Indians into elected posts in Westminster as well as at the local government level.

He also indicated plans to hold discussions with the Indian High Commissioner in the UK, Ruchi Ghanashyam, in due course to open a “renewed dialogue” between the Labour Party and the Indian community.

“I really welcome his commitment to rebuilding strong links between the Labour Party and the Indian community,” said Rajesh Agrawal, LFIN Co-Chair and the Deputy Mayor of London for Business.

“This has been a great start and Keir Starmer has achieved a lot in the short span of couple of weeks. Labour Friends of India will work closely with him and will continue to promote UK-India ties as well as continuing to raise any issues from the community to the leadership,” he said.

PTI