The prime minister's first visit to New Delhi since taking office last June was expected to follow the themes seen in Beijing and Shanghai, where he said Sino-British relations had risen to new levels across the board.

Relations between India and the former colonial power are "at their healthiest for a very long time," Britain's Foreign Office said on its website.

Brown was later Sunday to swap notes with his counterpart Manmohan Singh, who was in China himself less than a week ago.

During that visit, India and China, whose rapid economic growth in recent years has given them increasing clout on the world stage, set a bilateral trade target of 60 billion dollars by 2010.

Brown and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday agreed to boost two-way trade and investment to the same amount by the same date, and signed deals notably on climate change technology and the development of sustainable cities.

Britain is India's fourth-largest global trading partner, accounting for 3.56 percent of India's foreign trade in 2006-2007, according to official Indian figures.

India has emerged as the second-largest investor in Britain, with investments totalling over one billion pounds (1.9 billion dollars) in the last year alone.

Brown is aware that the rise of China and India -- the world's two most populous nations -- is shifting the global economic balance and has said it is vital for countries to work with them to address key international issues.

The prime minister was to deliver a keynote speech on Monday stressing the need to reform world institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to reflect 21st century realities, British officials said.

On climate change, Brown has said he wanted to use the four-day Asian tour to secure China and India's backing for a new deal to cut global warming after the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012.

But as developing economies, New Delhi and Beijing are loath to sign up to internationally agreed binding targets on emissions cuts and instead want more help on creating new, cleaner energy technology.

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna indicated ahead of the visit that Brown would do well not to push too hard on a commitment to binding cuts, saying carbon emissions in India were "far lower" than in many other countries.

"We want progress (on climate change) to be made but it has to be in line with our own development priorities," Sarna said.

Brown was expected to sign a new deal on higher education and launch a British Council-run scheme to train 750,000 more English teachers in India over the next five years.

Unveiling the plans Thursday, Brown said he wanted to make English the world's "language of choice."

On the geopolitical front, British officials in New Delhi said there would be an exchange of views on counter-terrorism, Pakistan, Nepal and military-run Myanmar, where London is looking for a speedier transition to democracy.

Proposed changes to Britain's immigration policy could also feature on the agenda.

Concern has been expressed among the 1.3 million people of Indian origin in Britain about plans to make families pay a financial deposit for relatives coming from outside the European Union to ensure they returned home on time.

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