British PM arrives on two-day crucial visit

New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) British Premier Gordon Brown arrived here today to a warm welcome on a two-day visit, his first to India after becoming the Prime Minister, for ''cementing'' relations between the two countries and holding discussions with Indian leaders on various issues including regional and international.

Mr Brown, who is here primarily to attend the Fourth India-UK annual Summit, was received at the airport by Minister of State for Commerce Ashwini Kumar.

The British Premier, who arrived from Beijing, will have formal talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow on several issues, including climate change, counter-terrorism, higher education, science and technology and trade. Cooperation for strengthening economic linkages is also on the agenda.

Early tomorrow, he will deliver keynote address at a Business Summit which will be a major speech on international framework.

He will also launch a programme on sports collaboration for encouraging sports in developing countries.

Later in the afternoon, he will lead his country's delegation at the Fourth Indo-UK Summit with Dr Singh.

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