Nick Clegg will lead a UK trade mission to India next week in the latest attempt by the Government to boost links between the two nations.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who will use his visit to announce a series of scientific partnership deals, is expected to meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during the three-day trip.

Senior Government figures have made a series of trips to India since the coalition came to power in 2010 in an effort to create a new "special relationship" and strengthen trade with the emerging economic powerhouse.

Chancellor George Osborne and then-foreign secretary William Hague visited in July, while David Cameron has made three trips to India as Prime Minister.

Among the partnership deals being announced by Mr Clegg will be an agreement between a British university and Indian colleagues on research into antibiotic resistance.

The work by the University of Dundee and the Indian National Centre for Biological Research in Bangalore is aimed at developing new drugs to tackle diseases which are evolving to resist common antibiotics.

Mr Clegg will also announce four projects that have won a share of more than £2 million in funding from the UK's Technology Strategy Board and India's Department of Science and Technology.

They will involve work on tackling dengue fever and leishmaniasis and research into biofuels and more efficient oil refineries.

Ahead of the visit, starting on Monday, Mr Clegg said: "The major trade mission I am leading to India next week marks a turning point in the relationship between our countries.

"Our links with India are one of the strongest we have with any country, and the openness to trade and investment promised by Prime Minister Modi drives us closer still to the new 'special relationship' we have been aiming for since 2010.

"Science, research and development present clear opportunities to work together to tackle global challenges and boost jobs and growth. Between us, we have some of the best universities in the world, combined with unrivalled entrepreneurial spirit from innovative companies of all sizes.

"The scale of the problems we are tackling together is huge, and we could see thousands of lives saved. The impact on the world in the fields of climate research, drug resistance and elsewhere could be absolutely historic."