PM to visit Britain, Turkey

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a visit to Britain from November 12 and visit Turkey from November 14 for the G-20 summit.

In Facebook posts, Modi said his visit to Britain was aimed at strengthening cooperation with a traditional friend that was not only a major economic partner but also one of the world's leading economic players and home to a strong financial services sector.

"India and UK are two vibrant democracies, which are proud of their diversity and multicultural societies.

"It is known for its innovative zeal and for its creative industries. You would be interested to know that UK has the largest diplomatic presence in India and is the 3rd largest source of foreign investment in our country. India too is the third largest source of FDI (in terms of the number of projects) in UK," he said, adding he sees "immense scope for our economic and trade relations to improve" for mutual benefit.

He said another area of importance for bilateral cooperation is defence.

"I am confident my UK visit will deepen our ties and we will cooperate extensively in a range of areas of shared interests."

On his Turkey visit, Modi said the G 0 summit is being held at a critical juncture, just after the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals agenda at the United Nations, and just before discussions on climate change at COP-21 in Paris.

"During the summit, we will review the progress on decisions taken at the Brisbane summit and take up issues of climate change, terrorism, refugees, weak growth in global economy, strategies for growth and employment, investment strategies, trade, energy and financial sector resilience," he said.

Referring to the last G20 summit, Modi said India will continue focus on mitigating the menace of black money, tax erosion and bringing greater transparency remains. "There will be several bilateral meetings too with world leaders on the sidelines of the Summit, which will help deepen our bilateral ties," he said.