Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Royal Gallery of the British Parliament.
In a 20-minute address to UK's top industry leaders at London's Guildhall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a big push for Investment, listing out the measures taken to address the long pending concerns of investors including taxation and his government's efforts to bring in reforms. PM Modi had landed at the Heathrow airport this morning for three-day visit that is focussed on drawing investment.
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"We have been working aggressively to make India an easy and simple place to do business. In ease of doing business India went up 12 places in one go," PM Modi said at Guildhall.
Earlier, he spoke at the Royal Gallery of the British Parliament and held bilateral talks with his UK counterpart David Cameron.
Following the bilateral talks, India and UK announced new partnerships worth 9 billion pounds. India and UK has also signed a civil nuclear deal, PM Modi said. Mr Cameron said UK supports India's permanent membership in the United Nation Security Council and UK will Make in India.
Asked about the "growing incidents of intolerance" by the British media during his joint media conference with Mr Cameron, PM Modi said India is committed to protecting "every citizen's freedom". "India is the land of Buddha and in our society, we don't accept unconstitutional things. Every such incident is serious. Law will deal with these severely," he added.
At the Royal Gallery of the British Parliament, PM Modi took a strong stand on terror and reaffirmed India's stance on climate change. "We must support a common definition of terrorism in the UN. And we need a social movement against extremism in countries where they originate," he said.
Landing in the Heathrow airport this morning, PM Modi had tweeted, "Reached London. India-UK ties will receive a great impetus. Will attend a wide range of programmes in UK."
Scenes of great jubilation were witnessed outside the St James' Court in London, as PM Modi got off his car and walked up to greet a huge group of slogan-shouting supporters. Later, he was given an official welcome at the Treasury Quadrangle.
PM Modi is staying overnight at Chequers, a 16th century mansion that is Mr Cameron's country retreat in Buckinghamshire. The two are expected to have a joint yoga session there.
Tomorrow, PM Modi will have lunch with the Queen at the Buckingham Palace, meet a group of UK's business leaders and then address an estimated 60,000 members of the Indian community at London's Wembley stadium. There are about 1.5 million people of Indian origin in the UK.
PM Modi's visit, the first by an Indian prime minister since 2006, follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit last month that yielded $62 billion in deals. Comparisons are being drawn between the two visits.
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