Beckett on six-day India visit from tomorrow

London, Nov 1 (UNI) Britain's Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, who is flying to India for a six-day visit starting tomorrow, said she would discuss the cooperation between the two countries on dealing with global challenges during her visit.

Speaking on the eve of her departure, Ms Beckett, who will be visiting Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad--for the first time since she took charge of the post-- said, ''India is an important partner for the UK as we both work together to address the global challenges that the world is facing today. Issues such as counter-terrorism and climate change can only be addressed successfully if all the key international players work together.'' About bilateral relations between the UK and India, the Foreign Secretary said it was ''underpinned by solid economic and people-to-people links between the two countries. The UK is the third largest investor in India and India leapt last year from being the eighth to the third largest investor in the UK.

''Over one million people travel between the two countries every year, and our large British Indian community is one of the most successful in the UK. As our two Prime Ministers agreed, the relationship has never been better,'' she added.

During her stay in Delhi Ms Beckett will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

''In Delhi I look forward to discussing our cooperation on dealing with global challenges with the Indian Prime Minister, the External Minister and other senior officials of the government.

''I will give a public address on how we can work together to tackle the impact of climate change. I look forward to travelling to Hyderabad and Mumbai to look at development work and the growing business links between the two countries,'' she noted.

UNI XC KD ND1824