Duke, Duchess of Cambridge to visit India in 2016

The announcement came soon after Prime Minister Modi was hosted for lunch by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

It will be the first time Kate and William have been to India. Reports suggest that this could be the first official overseas tour of the couple after they visited NY in 2014.

Prince William’s father Prince Charles has made eight official tours to India, the latest in 2013.

But it is understood William and Kate feel this tour would prove too gruelling for the youngsters, particularly Charlotte who won’t even be a year old.

Prince Charles had visited India as a single man of 32 in 1980.

The Indian PM is on a three-day visit to the United Kingdom, during which he is hoping to strengthen the relationship between the two nations and will give a speech at Wembley Stadium.

Twelve years later saw this happen as the Princess of Wales’s accompanied her husband on a joint tour to the country.

Diana was famously photographed sitting on her own on a bench outside the Taj Mahal in a picture that hinted at loneliness and became the defining image of the tour.

In a rare show of Royal diplomacy, Modi was received inside the Palace by the Queen herself.

It will be the first time William and Kate have visited the region, and as such they will undertake a broad range of engagements during their time in India.

The palace said that the full details of the visit will be confirmed early next year.