Gordon Brown has arrived in India for a two-day visit, pledging to forge stronger trade links and cooperate against terrorism. But the fate of Northern Rock continues to dominate his tour. The prime minister denied he's already struck a deal with Sir Richard Branson. Our political editor Gary Gibbon reports from Delhi.

Well Gordon Brown's here in India to talk about aid, trade and counter-terrorism. He attended a women's empowerment event when he arrived here in Delhi. And a short while after that, he had this to say about how he wanted more international cooperation on counter-terrorism.

What I would like to see is greater contact between our two countries in winning the battle of hearts and minds, isolating extremist ideologues who are trying to poison young people and the views that they have.

Tomorrow Gordon Brown's gonna be talking about what he calls global governance, changes to institutions like United Nations. He wants India to have a seat on the Security Council. But he wants a lot else as well. He's talking about a sort of force, a bit like the Blue Berets, the military forces that the United Nations currently deployed to troubled countries. He wants a backup as it were a blue suit force which could include teachers, judges, doctors, people who can come in when a country is in dire difficulty. But there is another issue that is dogging him around here and it is in a way personified by the ever-present, Sir Richard Branson, boss of Virgin. He's been following the prime minister on his tour and insisting at every turn that there are no secret negotiations going on between the two of them when it comes to the sale of Northern Rock. This is what the prime minister himself had to say about that today.

I can reassure people entirely that any negotiations about Northern Rock will be taking place in London. If a number of commercial companies are expressing interest in the future of Northern Rock, then it is right that the government explore all options available to us.

But as I said the prime minister is gonna be talking about the United Nations and other matters tomorrow when he's here in Delhi but his heart and mind are gonna be very much back in London where the Chancellor will be making a very important statement about Northern Rock. The prime minister wants people to think that he's no longer on the back foot on Northern Rock, he's taken a grip of the situation and that he is not bailing out whoever buys Northern Rock. Will it look like that? Will it sound like that? Will people think that the government is actually making a sweetener for Richard Branson or whoever buys Northern Rock? That will be the key moment tomorrow. Gordon Brown will be watching from a distance here in Delhi.