Ian Pearson will visit India from January 16-18, and Sri Lanka from January

The trip is the British government's third trade and investment visit to India in a year and will be the first visit to Sri Lanka by a British minister since the new Sri Lankan government took office in November.

Pearson will be accompanied in India by a 25-strong business delegation led by Indo-British Partnership Network chairman Karan Bilimoria. The delegation will include senior representatives from companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, Virgin Atlantic and the London Stock Exchange.

Pearson said: "Throughout this visit I will have opportunities to meet with senior Indian ministers to talk about how we can work together to continue to achieve our shared goals in the international arena."

He added that Britain is the largest European investor in Sri Lanka and he will also meet British organisations working on post-tsunami reconstruction.

Bilimoria said: "The relationship between Britain and India is a strong and special one. The potential to significantly increase trade, business and investment, both ways, between our great nations is enormous."