India PM Visit Heralds £9bn Of Trade Deals

India's Prime Minister has said negotiations between his country and the UK are a "huge moment for our two great nations".

Narendra Modi was speaking in Westminster as he began a three-day visit to Britain with the two nations seeking to strengthen commercial ties.

He said opportunities should be "seized" and "obstacles to co-operation" removed so they can become one of the "leading global partnerships".

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to create a "modern, dynamic partnership" and said £9bn of trade deals are being signed by UK and Indian companies this week. They include a £1.3bn investment in India by Vodafone.

Mr Modi - the first serving Indian PM to make a speech in Parliament - said the two nations' histories were so closely intertwined "there are many things on which it is hard to tell any more if they are British or Indian".

He cited Tata-owned Jaguar cars, Brooke Bond tea, curry and cricket, and told his audience of MPs and peers that "even in India, every young footballer wants to bend it like Beckham".

Earlier in the day, he inspected a guard of honour, there was a flypast by the Red Arrows and he had talks with Mr Cameron in Downing Street.

But not everyone is happy about Mr Modi's trip - around 100 protesters gathered outside Downing Street during the talks.

The demonstrators chanted noisily and held placards and banners with messages including "Modi not welcome", "Stop religious persecution", and "Remove illegal blockade in Nepal".

Also more than 200 writers, including Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie and Val McDermid, wrote an open letter to Mr Cameron to raise concerns about freedom of expression in India during the talks.

And an early day motion was signed by 40 MPs, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, urging the UK leader to raise the human rights topic.

Mr Corbyn did not attend the speech Mr Modi gave to the British Parliament but is due to meet him on Saturday where he will bring up the issue.

Mr Modi's government has been accused of undermining democracy and the leader, who became PM last year, is regarded as controversial in some quarters.

He was barred from the UK until 2012 over allegations that in 2002, when he was chief minister of Gujarat, he failed to stop anti-Muslim riots in which 1,000 people died.

Mr Modi, the first serving Indian Prime Minister to visit the UK in almost a decade - has rejected criticism of his record in Gujarat as well as claims that civil liberties have been reduced since he came to power.

Mr Cameron said among the business agreements was a five-year partnership to help develop the cities of Amravati, Indore and Pune.

He said he hoped British firms would get a share of the planning, design and construction work involved.

Britain is already the largest investor in India among the G20 nations, and India invests more in the UK than it does in the rest of the EU combined.