UK PM Keir Starmer Appoints David Lammy as Foreign Secretary British PM Keir Starmer appointed David Lammy as the foreign secretary on Friday, as he embarked on the formation of a government for Labour following the party's landslide election to power.
The 51-year-old Labour stalwart and lawyer has had a long commitment to building close bilateral ties with India; quite often, he refers to the present Indian External Affairs minister, Dr S Jaishankar, as an old friend. He said he would go to India within the first month of taking up his job if his party won the recent elections.
On the appointment of Lammy, Dr Jaishankar tweeted "Look forward to continuing our engagement and strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership."
Reacting to the appointment to one of the top jobs in the UK government, Lammy said, "It is the greatest honour of my life to serve as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs."
He spoke about the challenges facing the world today but took heart from the fact that these would be navigated with the UK's considerable strengths. Lammy also promised to reconnect Britain for domestic security and prosperity.
He did, indeed, raise the India-UK free trade agreement, which has been delayed, saying, "Too many Diwalis have passed without a trade deal, leaving too many of our businesses waiting. Labour is ready to act. Let's get our free trade agreement sorted and forge ahead."
Terming India a superpower in economic, technological, and cultural categories, Lammy set up what should be expected of his tenure as foreign secretary in a Labour-led Cabinet.
"Labour will banish the era of reheated blasts from the past. If I quote a poem in India, it will be Tagore's, and symbolize the limitless possibilities for deeper cooperation and learning with a superpower like India," he said.
More broadly, in terms of foreign policy, Lammy highlighted the close partnership with India toward a free and open Indo-Pacific. Britain's commitment to a rules-based international order is firm, where such aggressive actions as border readjustments by force are not acceptable, as has been the case in Europe and Asia.
Lammy said that Europe and Asia were interdependent in many ways and committed to growing security cooperation with India across military, maritime security, cyber, and other cross-cutting and fast-developing technologies.
During an October episode of the Labour Indians' Diaspora outreach organization launch, Lammy reiterated his party's commitment to pushing through the stalled FTA negotiations with India, building upon the current GBP 38.1 bn bilateral relationship.
"We see the trade agreement as the foundation, not the ceiling in our relations with India. Potentially huge collaboration can happen in all fields," he added.
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