Top British ministers begin India visit to woo Modi

Two of Britain's most senior ministers arrived in India on Monday to seek stronger trade and investment links with the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Foreign Secretary William Hague and Finance Minister George Osborne landed in the financial capital Mumbai to start their two-day visit, which is expected to focus on forging deeper defence, infrastructure and other ties between the two countries. ‘The excitement here is matched by new confidence among international investors abroad in the future of the Indian economy,’ Osborne was set to tell business leaders in Mumbai later Monday, according to speech excerpts released by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. ‘It is a measure of the ambition and drive and pace of the new government, led by Modi, that this complete turnaround in sentiment about the Indian economy has been achieved in just seven short weeks since that stunning election victory.’ The pair’s visit follows close on the heels of the French foreign minister, as Western governments rush to court Modi and his right-wing team following their landslide victory in May. Reform-minded Modi has raised hopes for foreign investors with his pledges to open up India’s stumbling economy, spur investment and kick-start major infrastructure projects, according to AFP.