New Delhi: Britain's Prince Charles today
held talks on wide-ranging issues with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on strengthening bilateral cooperation and invited him to
attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to
be held next year in the UK.
Accompanied by his wife Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla
Parker Bowles, Charles landed here this afternoon.
The visit is a part of their 10-day tour of four nations
-- Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and India.
"A relationship marked by mutual respect and strong bonds
of friendship. Prime Minister Modi welcomed Their Royal
Highness, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at
Hyderabad House, wide ranging issues on strengthening
bilateral cooperation were discussed," external affairs
ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
India and the UK have robust economic ties and their
current trade stands at USD 12.19 billion.
India is the third largest investor in the UK and the
second largest international job creator in the UK.
The UK is the third largest inward investor in India,
with a cumulative equity investment of USD 24.37 billion for
the period April 2000 June 2017.
This is the ninth visit of the Prince of Wales to India
since 1975, the last being in 2013.
According to officials, the invitation to attend CHOGM
has been issued by the secretary general of Commonwealth to
all members nations and the issue was discussed in today's
meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, the Clarence House, official
Twitter handle of the Prince and the Duchess, tweeted,"An
assembled 'Elephant Parade' greet Their Royal Highnesses in
the garden of the British High Commissioner's Residence."
"The elephant family sculptures will be taken to Mumbai
to raise awareness of the charity's mission to help protect
Asian elephants," the Clarence House said in another tweet.
The Indian diaspora in the UK is one of the largest
ethnic minority communities there, with the 2011 census
recording approximately 1.5 million people of Indian-origin in
the UK, contributing 6 per cent to the country's GDP.
