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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, met his British counterpart David Cameron on Saturday, and told him that India would like to see the international community make continued and concerted efforts to ensure global economic recovery. The bilateral meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the fourth Group of Twenty (G-20) summit, saw both leaders sharing their views on G-20 developments and expressing satisfaction over the performance of Indo-British ties. Briefing media persons accompanying Dr. Singh on his two-day visit to Toronto, the government spokesman, Vishnu Prakash, said the meeting between Dr. Singh and Cameron was conducted in an atmosphere of cordiality. Prakash said that Dr. Singh congratulated Prime Minister Cameron on his electoral victory on May 6, and said that he looked forward to the latter's visit to India in July. He further said that both leaders expressed satisfaction over the positive "trajectory" that this bilateral relationship was taking, and hoped that the strategic partnership forged between the two countries during Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to India in 1998 would be further strengthened. The spokesman further revealed that the United Kingdom is the largest investor in India, and added that Indo-British trade is worth over 13 billion dollars. He said that Prime Minister Singh had told his British counterpart that he would like to see more UK investments in India. According to Prakash, Prime Minister Cameron had told Dr. Singh that Indian students were the second largest student grouping in the United Kingdom, and he would like to see more Indian-origin students coming to the UK for higher studies. It was also revealed that the two leaders discussed regional situation such as developments taking place in Afghanistan. Prakash said that Prime Minister Cameron reaffirmed his country's support for granting India a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as also for reform of UN institutions so that they were effectively more representative of the current world order.

Manmohan Singh meets UK PM, seeks assurances to ensure global fiscal recovery