PM invites Brown to India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday extended his felicitations to new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his assumption of the high office and said he looked forward to working with him to "strengthen and expand" bilateral ties.

Dr Singh invited Brown to visit India in the next few months, saying it will "play an important role in taking forward the partnership between the two countries that we have worked hard to build."

In a letter to Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on Wednesday, Dr Singh said, "I am happy to extend my warm felicitations to you on your assumption of the Office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom."

Dr Singh said he welcomed, "this opportunity to reaffirm to you the importance that I attach to the friendship and cooperation" between the two countries.

"I look forward to working with you to strengthening and expanding our bilateral ties, that are so important for both our countries," he told Brown, a self-proclaimed admirer of India.

Brown, 56, has special interest in strengthening and deepening relations with a "pulsating, dynamic India" and has recently talked of according high priority to ties with New Delhi.