Army Chief meets senior UK defence officials

On a four-day visit to the UK to strengthen bilateral military ties, Army Chief Gen VK Singh on Wednesday met senior British defence officials and discussed several issues of mutual interest.

"Gen Singh was received by British Chief of General Staff General Sir Peter Wall and he reviewed the Guard of Honour. Later the Indian Army Chief interacted with Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond," Army officials said.

During the visit, Singh will tour training establishments and witness a defence exercise. He will hold discussions with senior military leaders about ways to strengthen defence ties.

Singh will also call on the British Secretary of Defence and discuss the ways of extending the existing cooperation between the defence forces of the two sides.

He will visit the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, which was the cradle of Indian army's leadership in the pre-independence era.

The army chief will also interact with the famous Special Forces of Britain during the visit.

Gen Singh's official visit will end on February 17, but he will be there for next two days on leave and return India on February 20.

The two sides have strong defence cooperation and a British delegation recently visited India to hold discussions with the Defence Ministry and the industry here.