India is important to the UK, and British Prime Minister David Cameron emphasised the importance of the former colony by making it the second stop on his overseas tour. Britain's new PM says he wants to form a new 'special relationship' with India but whether Delhi wants a special relationship with London remains to be seen.

By Lia Bekhoven

Mr Cameron is leaving nothing to chance, and has put together a large and influential group of people to accompany him on the trip. The last time such a large delegation accompanied a British prime minister on a visit to the subcontinent was at least 63 years ago, during the colonial period. The 90-strong delegation includes six ministers, business leaders, academics and Olympic medal winners, and they are all focused on one thing: trade.
 
Humble
Writing in the Indian paper Hindu, Mr Cameron said he was in the country with "humility” and "I understand that Britain cannot rely on sentiment and shared history for a place in India's future. Your country has the whole world beating a path to its door. India's economy is growing, and Great Britain has only just woken up to the new reality. For centuries, my country believed that we could set the global tone. But economic power is shifting towards Asia and that means Great Britain must work harder in order to earn a living in the world".
 
Britain's economy is still struggling to emerge from the global recession while India achieved a record 8.6 percent growth in the final quarter of 2009. The UK's largest export markets, the US and the European Union, haven't recovered from the worldwide financial meltdown yet and are unable to import and consume vast quantities of British products. India is the 12th largest economy in the world and can afford to buy British. The country has a large and growing middle class eager for consumer goods and services.
 
Jewel
India was once known as the "jewel in the crown of the British Empire," but many Indians do not see Britain as a jewel. The wounds caused by years of colonial oppression haven't completely healed, and many young Indians look to the United States, not the UK, for inspiration and culture.
 
There are still strong ties between India and Britain: there are about 2 million people of Indian origin living in Britain and trade between the two countries was worth 13.7 billion euros last year. Indian parents still want their children to study at Oxford and Cambridge, and Indian students spent 375 million euros on tuition fees last year. An Indian company owns Jaguar Land Rover, companies such as Marks & Spencer do good business in India, and the richest man in England is the Indian steel magnate, Lakshi Mittal. India and Britain share a deep and abiding love of cricket and that does create a bond.
 
Special offers
In order to "broaden and deepen the special relationship," London will have to go further than the other countries that are "beating a path to India's door". Prime Minister Cameron does have a few specials on offer; he has promised not to set a limit on immigration from India before he has discussed the matter with Delhi, and he has agreed an 840 million euro deal for 57 Hawk trainer aircraft. But the icing and the cherry on the cake is Mr Cameron's promise to allow companies to export civil nuclear technology to India. It is a controversial decision; critics say the knowledge could find its way to the Indian military and point out that India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
 
New foreign policy
Mr Cameron says India is an essential market, and his visit is part of his coalition government's new foreign policy based on trade and commercial interests. His predecessors ignored India or criticised Delhi over the violence in Kashmir. The Cameron government is pragmatic, focused and motivated by commerce. Britain's prime minister is convinced that there is no other way for India's former colonial ruler to be taken seriously by one of the world's fastest growing economies. Whether India shares that conviction is, as yet, unknown.