Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's Statement on his departure for UK and Finland

"I will be paying an official visit to the United Kingdom at the invitation of Prime Minister Tony Blair. My visit to Helsinki is for the 7th India-EU Summit as well as to provide me an opportunity to meet Finland's leaders.

The United Kingdom is one of our most important dialogue partners. During the last three years, there has been a substantial deepening of our relations in all key areas - trade and investment, science and technology, energy, education and research and cultural ties. Prime Minister Blair and I will address an Investment Summit. The UK is our largest trading partner in the European Union and an important source of foreign investment. Indian companies are amongst the major investors in the UK. Given the common threats we face, cooperation in the area of combating terrorism has become particularly significant.

I will visit Cambridge University to receive an Honorary Doctorate which will be conferred by the Chancellor of Cambridge University, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The India-EU Summit in Helsinki will provide an opportunity to review progress in implementation of the Joint Action Plan adopted by the last Summit in New Delhi. We will review specific steps to enhance trade and investment ties between India and the European Union, which is not only our largest trading partner but an important source of Foreign Direct Investment and high technology. In recognition of India's growing stature a strategic partnership was formalized during The Hague Summit in 2004. Since then our dialogue has expanded to issues ranging from globalization, counter terrorism energy, environment and high tech areas such as ITER and the Galileo project. An India-EU Business Summit being held in Helsinki will provide an opportunity to reinforce the message of India as a secure and profitable trade and investment destination. Our discussions at the Summit will be reflected in a Joint Statement that will be issued on its conclusion.

During my stay in Helsinki, I will be calling on President Tarja Halonen as well as Prime Minister Vanhanen who had visited India in March this year. Finland is a world leader in high technology sectors including Telecommunications, IT and Biotechnology. I hope my visit to Finland will add further momentum to our bilateral relations".