'Huge moment' for UK and India
Current negotiations between the UK and India are a "huge moment for our two great nations", India's PM Narendra Modi has said on his visit to Britain.
Advertisement
In a speech to Parliament, he said the two countries needed to create "one of the leading global partnerships". Mr Modi and David Cameron are due to sign deals between Indian and UK firms worth more than £9bn.
The leaders said they would collaborate on issues including finance, defence, nuclear power and climate change. Mr Modi, whose three-day visit is the first by an Indian prime minister in a decade, said India's relationship with the UK was of "immense importance".
He also said that India viewed the UK as its "entry point to the EU". "Yes we are going to other European countries as well, but we will continue to consider the UK as our entry point to the EU as far as possible," he added.
Mr Modi said the UK and India were "two strong economies and two innovative societies" but he said their relationship "must set higher ambitions".
"We are igniting the engines of our manufacturing sector," he told MPs. "The progress of India is the destiny of one sixth of humanity," he added. His speech marked the first time a serving Indian prime minister had spoken in the UK's Parliament.
Live coverage of today's political events
Narendra Modi is seen as a divisive politician - loved and loathed in equal measure He is leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and took over as PM in May 2014 after leading his party to a spectacular general election win
He served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 and is regarded as a dynamic politician who helped make the western state an economic powerhouse
But he is also accused of doing little to stop the 2002 religious riots when more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed - allegations he has consistently denied
His 18 months in power have been somewhat controversial amid concerns over rising social tensions and intolerance in India
Mr Modi is known as a brilliant public speaker and is very popular among Indian communities abroad - 60,000 people are expected to fill Wembley Stadium to hear him speak
Mr Modi's arrival in London was marked with a flypast by the RAF's aerobatic team, the Red Arrows, over the House of Commons. On his way to give a speech to Parliament, he visited a statue of religious thinker Mahatma Gandhi.
During the trip, Mr Modi will meet the Queen and address crowds at Wembley Stadium. After his Parliament speech Mr Modi addressed business leaders and politicians at London's Guildhall.
He said India was an attractive investment destination. "Ours is the country of vibrant youths and a rising middle class. We welcome your ideas, innovations and enterprises," he said.