David Cameron - We must forge a new special relationship - with India

Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | We must forge a new special relationship - with India

India is the world's largest democracy, a rapidly growing economy, a huge potential trading partner, a diverse society with a strong culture of pluralism, and a key regional player - a force for stability in a troubled part of the world.

We share so many ties, not least the many people of Indian origin who live in Britain and make an enormous contribution to it. Our countries are also linked by the Commonwealth, [DR - Commonwealth of English speaking countries] in which India is not just the most populous member but has the largest economy after Britain's.

And the links between our two economies are strengthening fast. A few years ago India was the 10th largest investor in the UK; now it is the third largest. Five hundred Indian companies are based in London, and more are opening all the time.

So our relationship goes deep. But I think it can and should go deeper. For Britain, there's a precedent. Our special relationship with America has been forged through a shared past and a shared understanding of the world.

India has much to teach us; it has the world's second-largest Muslim population, and people are free to be Indian and Muslim, Indian and Sikh, or Indian and Hindu, without any contradiction.