UK's Indian-origin Law Minister Shailesh Vara to visit India next week

LONDON: Britain's leading Indian-origin Law Minister, Shailesh Vara, will embark on a three-day visit to India next week to build on the "solid" bilateral ties.

The UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid at the Ministry of Justice will visit Delhi and Ahmedabad between September 1 and 3.

Vara, a Conservative party MP, is the latest in a series of senior British government visitors to India to further develop the bilateral relationship with the new Narendra Modi dispension.

"As a British government minister of Indian origin this is a visit I am particularly looking forward to.

"The relationship between Britain and India is long and solid, and I am keen to strengthen it even further for the benefit of both nations," said the first person of Gujarati origin to serve as a British government minister.

Vara, who was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Indian government earlier this year, will meet ministers, senior judicial officials and visit law colleges in Delhi and Ahmedabad during his stay in India.

He will also promote the Global Law Summit, to be held in London in February 2015.

In Delhi, Vara will meet Energy Minister Piyush Goyal; Law, Justice and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad; Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju; Justice R M Lodha, Chief Justice of India; and Chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi K K Manan.

On September 2, he will visit Delhi's National Law University and also hold meetings with human rights lawyers and British businesses.

In Ahmedabad, he will call on the director of the Gujarat National Law University to deliver a speech and interact with students.

He would also be presented a Gujarat Gaurav Award by the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj.

Vara will conclude his tour with a visit to Mahatma Gandhi's famous Sabarmati Ashram.