ACTING as arms trader and security snooper, Sir Keir Starmer cut deals to sell military hardware and perhaps buy a digital ID system during a visit to India.

The prime minister signed an agreement worth £350 million to supply the Indian army with air defence missiles and launchers in Mumbai.

The move comes as India teeters once again on the brink of conflict with its neighbour Pakistan and as a British aircraft carrier strike group takes part in exercises with the Indian navy.

The missiles will be made in Northern Ireland, securing more than 700 jobs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The same munitions, which can be used to attack drones as well as vehicles and boats, are already being manufactured for Ukraine at the Thales plant in east Belfast.

Defence Secretary John Healey hailed the agreement, saying it showed “how our growing strategic partnership with India will boost UK business and jobs.”

“I am hopeful that this will pave the way for a deeper relationship between our two defence industries, particularly in the development of electric engines for naval ships and in air defence,” he added, referring to a separate Anglo-Indian deal worth £250m.

Sir Keir also took time to examine India’s digital ID system with a view to buying it for use in surveillance in Britain.

He met the chair of tech company Infosys, Nandan Nilekani, to discuss the Aadhaar system which has been introduced across India over the last 15 years.

Sir Keir hailed the system as a “massive success” although there have been protests in India that it has excluded some minorities, a shortcoming that would sit well with the present drift of British politics.

He once again defended his plans for the rollout of such a scheme in Britain. “I don’t know how many times the rest of you have had to look in the bottom drawer for three bills when you want to get your kids into school or apply for this or apply for that, drives me to frustration.

“I do think that we could gain a significant advantage,” he said, adding that a voluntary system could be expanded to school applications, mortgages and driving licences.