Joining the AIDS Walk for Life in India with Congress party president Sonia Gandhi on World AIDS Day - Dec 1 - will be one of the highlights of British Secretary for International Development Hilary Benn's visit next week.

Benn will be making his first official visit to India over four days from Nov 29. He will travel to Andhra Pradesh to visit an HIV/AIDS and TB hospital and launch a DFID (Department for International Development)- funded project to combat child labour.

During the visit, he will also see how Britain's 250-million pound support to India is helping lift the people out of poverty.

Benn said: "I am delighted to be visiting India and joining Congress party president Sonia Gandhi at the launch of the 'AIDS Walk for Life' event on World AIDS Day.

"I hope to see for myself the important commitment that the UK and India have made to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. India has 5.1 million people living with HIV, but it now has a window of opportunity to tackle the epidemic."

Britain has pledged 123 million pounds to India's National AIDS Control Programme.

"The partnership between India and the UK on development as on so many other issues is a strong and valuable one and I look forward to discussing with the government of India, how that can be further strengthened," he said.

--Indo-Asian News Service