Reuters, New Delhi :
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a mass rally on a visit to Britain this week that supporters hope will help him spring back from a humiliating election loss and reassert his authority on the global stage.
India and Britain could announce deals worth 8-12 billion pounds during the visit, according to diplomats, with Modi keen to buy 20 more BAE Systems Hawk trainer aircraft to be made in Bengaluru.
Britain is home to an Indian diaspora of 1.5 million, and the two nations share the English language, historical ties and an obsession with cricket. Yet Modi has, in his first 18 months in power, made a priority of courting global powers like the United States and China.
“UK-India ties are economically strong, but strategically weak,” said Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.Seeking to regain the initiative after crashing to defeat in a big state election at the weekend, Modi eased foreign investment rules this week in 15 sectors, including mining, defence and civil aviation.
“By introducing these reforms the government is certainly spelling out why India is an attractive destination,” said Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The centrepiece of the Nov. 12-14 trip will be a mass rally and firework display at Wembley Stadium on Friday for an estimated 60,000 supporters – three times bigger than the crowd he drew to New York’s Madison Square Garden last year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a mass rally on a visit to Britain this week that supporters hope will help him spring back from a humiliating election loss and reassert his authority on the global stage.
India and Britain could announce deals worth 8-12 billion pounds during the visit, according to diplomats, with Modi keen to buy 20 more BAE Systems Hawk trainer aircraft to be made in Bengaluru.
Britain is home to an Indian diaspora of 1.5 million, and the two nations share the English language, historical ties and an obsession with cricket. Yet Modi has, in his first 18 months in power, made a priority of courting global powers like the United States and China.
“UK-India ties are economically strong, but strategically weak,” said Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.Seeking to regain the initiative after crashing to defeat in a big state election at the weekend, Modi eased foreign investment rules this week in 15 sectors, including mining, defence and civil aviation.
“By introducing these reforms the government is certainly spelling out why India is an attractive destination,” said Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The centrepiece of the Nov. 12-14 trip will be a mass rally and firework display at Wembley Stadium on Friday for an estimated 60,000 supporters – three times bigger than the crowd he drew to New York’s Madison Square Garden last year.
