London, Nov 7 (IANS): British Prime Minister David Cameron has lauded India's role in global economy and said that a close relationship with New Delhi is beneficial to both the countries.
Cameron was addressing the Diwali reception hosted at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence at Westminster, Asian Lite newspaper reported.
Cameron will arrive in India Nov 14 for a day-long viit before leaving to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Nov 15-16. This will be his third visit to India in two years.
Cameron will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on key bilateral and regional issues.
India's acting high commissioner in London, Virander Paul, Labour leader and former minister Keith Vaz MP, Priti Patel MP and Sun Mark chief Rami Ranger were among the prominent people attended the Diwali event.
Speaking to guests inside a colourfully decorated Downing Street, the prime minister thanked the British-Indian community for their contribution to Britain.
“It is a strong relationship, it's a vibrant relationship,” he said. “It has so many parts to it. There's all the shared history, there's the shared language.
"There's the great excitement about our economies. India invests more into the United Kingdom than the rest of Europe put together. Britain is one of the top three investors into India.
"Some of the projects, some of the businesses underway are thrilling. The co-operation between our universities, our shared love of sport. There's so much that we share together.”
Cameron said Britain wanted to improve ties with India, especially in education, economy and infrastructure.
“The exciting thing about the Indo-UK relationship is not the past or the present, but it's the future,” the prime minister said.
“It's the idea that we are going to work together on some of these shared global challenges.
"I very much look forward to making my third visit to India as prime minister, and seeing Manmohan Singh when I go. It's a huge pleasure to go back to India, and I'm really looking forward to it.”