PM to focus on trade, defence ties in Britain

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sets off on a three-day visit to Britain beginning Thursday with a focus on boosting ties in trade and investment, defence and energy sectors besides enhancing cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism.

Ahead of the visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in almost a decade, Mr Modi said he will explore avenues of “more effective” economic cooperation with the UK, one of the fastest growing G-7 economies and home to a strong financial services sector.

The Prime Minister’s packed schedule in London include a lunch with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace — an honour usually only accorded to heads of state, and an address at the British Parliament.

He will also speak at a sell-out event at the Wembley stadium, expected to be attended by around 60,000 people from the Indian diaspora.

Mr Modi will have wide-ranging talks with his counterpart David Cameron and both sides are likely to sign a number of agreements. Both sides are likely to come out with three separate “outcome documents” on development partnership, defence and security, and on energy and climate change, listing initiatives to boost ties in these areas.

There may be a vision statement on overall ties, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters, briefing on the visit. He said Mr Cameron will accompany Mr Modi on most of the occasions. “My visit is aimed at strengthening cooperation with a traditional friend that is not only a major economic partner of India but also one of the leading economic players of the world. India and UK are two vibrant democracies, which are proud of their diversity and multicultural societies,” Mr Modi said in a Facebook post.

Mr Jaishankar said boosting economic ties will be a major focus area, besides enhancing ties in defence and clean energy sector. Mr Modi will interact with CEOs at a roundtable in London where he will list various initiatives to ensure ease of doing business in India.