What steps he is taking to increase UK trade with India.

We are working to increase trade through the Joint Economic Trade Committee and the Asia taskforce. UK Trade and Investment provides direct support to companies and we also support the Indo-British Partnership Network.

I wish to draw the House's attention to my entry in the Register of Members' Interests. The initiatives that the Minister outlines are important and to be welcomed, but is he aware of the real frustration and concern among many UK exporters that we are not capturing our appropriate share of the growth in India's international trade, given our shared history, linguistic ties and other potential competitive advantages? Does he agree with the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, who said recently that there is too much focus on Europe as a trading bloc and that we must get out to where the action is?

I have no doubt that we can do more, but let us not forget the progress that has been made so far. In the first six months of this year, trade with India rose by 24 per cent. compared with the previous year. We had 49 trade missions in 2004, we have more this year and we will have still more in 2006. We are getting on with it. India and China are hugely important growth markets for the future—we should not be in any doubt about that—and I want UK companies to trade not only with those countries, but within the EU, with the United States and further afield. Exporting is fundamentally important to the future economic prosperity of the UK and the Government will do all that we can to support that industry.

This is the first time in my life that I have seen a Government making so much effort to build relations between the UK and India. I praise the Government, from the Prime Minister down, for all the efforts that they have made.

Can my hon. Friend the Minister destroy the myth that has built up in the past few years that all the low-skilled jobs, in call centres and so on, are being shipped to India? Investment from India in this country is creating highly skilled jobs, and many highly professional, educated Indians are working—for example, in IT—and making a great contribution to this country.

I agree with my hon. Friend. Indian companies and Indian investment are very welcome in the United Kingdom. Companies like Tata Consultancy Services are doing a terrific job here. He will be interested to know that our balance of trade with India is roughly equal. In the first half of this year, our exports to India were worth about £1.84 billion and our imports were worth £1.85 billion. That shows what we have done. He is also right to point to our continuing strong links with India. The Prime Minister's visit to India and the UK/India summit, as well as the EU/India summit, were important developments. We are working very hard through JETCO and the Asia taskforce to strengthen our relations, and we will continue to do so in the future.

Does the Minister share my concern that the public debate on our trade and investment relations with India is too often characterised by threats, rather than opportunity? In that context, does he welcome the decision of the Select Committee on Trade and Industry to launch a major inquiry into our trade and investment relations with India, which I expect to identify policy initiatives that the British and Indian Governments could take to build a sustainable long-term improvement in our trading relations, for the benefit of both countries?

I can only agree with the hon. Gentleman. I very much welcome the Select Committee inquiry. India and China have the ability to transform our world. That is highly likely to happen over the next 10 to 20 years. We must see the growth of India and China as an opportunity, not as a threat, and take advantage of the trading opportunities that will accrue as a result of their rapid economic expansion. As a Government, we are very seized of that, and we are developing our policies and ensuring that we put our resources behind encouraging and supporting our companies to take advantage of those opportunities.

The Minister will be aware that caste discrimination is a huge problem in India and that 160 million people in India suffer its consequences. Is he prepared to undertake discussions with any British company that operates or invests in India to adopt the Ambedkar principles, by which the people who are known as the scheduled castes in India would receive fair treatment, thus making our contribution to ending that appalling discrimination against so many people?

My hon. Friend raises an important point. We discuss those issues with the Indian Government, and we are very clear indeed about encouraging the corporate social responsibility of companies that invest in India. So I can assure him that the points that he makes are valid and taken into account in our discussions with industry and the Indian Government.

Our trade with India is extremely important, but does the Minister agree that it must be conducted on a fair basis? Mr. Alistair Buchan, who is chairman of the Scottish Tartans Authority and Lochcarron of Scotland, based in my constituency, has highlighted websites, such as mytartan.com, which are passing off kilts and other products made in India as though they were made in Scotland. Will the hon. Gentleman look again at the regulations affecting websites and labelling to ensure that trading standards officials have the right powers to stamp out those abuses?

I am certainly happy to look at the specific situation that the hon. Gentleman mentions. We also want to sell more Scotch whisky to India, and tariffs are unacceptably high. One of the things that we want the Doha development round to achieve is not just help for the poorest countries, although that is absolutely central to our Government's policy, but we want India to reduce some of its tariff barriers, as well as a further strengthening of two-way trade with India. But I will get back to the hon. Gentleman with some answers to the specific question that he asks.