29 November-2 December 2004
Hilary Benn
Secretary of State for International Development

This was Hilary Benn's first official visit to India. He was here for four days from 29 November to 2 December during which he travelled to Andhra Pradesh, to visit an HIV and AIDS and TB hospital and launch a DFID funded project to combat child labour, and New Delhi.

28 October-6November 2004
Barry Gardiner
Minister for Economy and Education in Northern Ireland

Barry Gardiner visited India with an 18-member delegation to explore further business and academic exchanges with India. He called on ministers and officials from departments of commerce, industry and education. He addressed events organised by FICCI in New Delhi and the CII in Mumbai. Mr Gardiner will attend a reception hosted by Tourism Ireland Ltd.

4 October 2004
Geoff Hoon
Defence Minister

Geoff Hoon's visit to India was part of a wider regional visit. He also visited Islamabad. He met with Defence Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee and discussed ways to carry ahead the good work we have jointly done so far.

4-7 October 2004
Margaret Beckett
Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Margaret Beckett visited New Delhi and Mumbai from 4-7 October. Mrs Beckett addressed a Climate Change Seminar organised by the UK’s Climate Change Projects Office (CCPO), UK Trade and Investment and FICCI in New Delhi and deliver the keynote address at the Climate Change Trade Mission seminar, organised by the CCPO in Mumbai. Mrs Beckett attended a seminar on ‘Accelerating the Growth of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency,’ under the Prospects for India-UK Partnership programme organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi.

4 to 7 October 2004
Gareth Thomas
Minister for International Development

This is his second visit to India this year. During his visit, Mr Thomas called on the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Mr Arjun Singh, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Mr Montek Singh, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. He also travelled to Madhya Pradesh, a DFID focus state.

2-9 October 2004
David Miliband
Minister for School Standards

David Miliband visited New Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata from 2-9 October. Mr Miliband met with Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of West Bengal Budhadeb Bhattacharya, Education Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal and other political leaders, including Chandrababu Naidu.

17-23 September 2004
David Lammy
Minister for Constitutional Affairs

David Lammy visited new Delhi and Mumbai from 17-23 September n a new move to spearhead the UK Government’s drive to open up global legal services markets.

24-25 June 2004
John Prescott
British Deputy Prime Minister

John Prescott visited New Delhi from 24-25 June to build ties with the new United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi. Mr Prescott carried a message from the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

 15-18 March 2004
Tessa Jowell
Minister for Culture, Media and Sport

Tessa Jowell visited Mumbai, Jaipur and New Delhi from 15-18 March to further build on the excellent cultural relationship between India and the UK. In Mumbai, she called on Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Information and Broadcasting and was the Guest of Honour at the opening of the Frames Festival in Mumbai. In Jaipur Ms Jowell visited heritage conservation projects. And in Delhi she called on Shri Jagmohan, Minister of Tourism and Culture as well as Shri Vijay Kapoor, Lt Governor of Delhi.

5-8 February 2004
Jack Straw
Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Jack Straw visited New Delhi and Bangalore as part of a major British Government initiative to work with the Indian government to further enhance the strong relations between the two countries. In Delhi he called on several ministers including his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha.

4-7 February 2004
Elliot Morley
Minister for Environment

Elliot Morley attended and addressed TERI’s Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in Delhi. Mr Morley also attended and spoke at the opening of a seminar on UK's Technological Capabilities in the Water and Environmental Sector on 5 February.

2-4 February 2004
Stephen Timms
Minister for E-commerce, communication and information services

The only overseas minister attending NASSCOM 2004, Stephen Timms addressed the Inaugural Session on 3 February and the NASSCOM UK Country Seminar on 4 February. He highlighted the advantages to Indian companies of investing in the UK.

29 January-1 February
David Blunkett
Home Minister

David Blunkett's visit was aimed at strengthening UK-India co-operation on issues including counter-terrorism, policing and migration. Mr Blunkett met meet senior Indian ministers and delivered two keynote speeches on the importance of maintaining and building on the strong connections between the UK and India, including on counter-terrorism and positive migration links.

21-22 January 2004
Gareth Thomas
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development

Gareth Thomas called on West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other senior ministers to exchange views on the key development issues and DFID’s programmes. He also participated in the launch of the Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor Programme (KUSP). DFID is providing £102 million (approx. Rs.785.40 crores) assistance to the programme, which aims to benefit 2.4 million slum dwellers in Kolkata.

5-7 January 2004
Mike O’Brien
Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs

Mike O’Brien addressed the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Partnership Summit in Hyderabad. He also met senior Indian ministers and talked about how UK and India can work together even more effectively to meet their shared goals in the international arena.