The United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson who is on a two-day visit to India met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and will soon meet Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar and PM Modi for the bilateral meetings. This is Johnson’s first visit to India after he was elected prime minister of the UK.
“Looking forward to meeting with my friend NarendraModi today in New Delhi. From climate change to energy security to defence, the partnership of our democracies is vital as the world faces growing threats from autocratic states,” Johnson tweeted before PM Modi received him at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Johnson arrived on Thursday and spent the first day of his trip in PM Modi’s home-state Gujarat where he met industrialists and other lawmakers.
Boris Johnson also received a guard of honour and laid a wreath at Rajghat and paid tribute to the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi.
“Thank you for the fantastic welcome. I don’t think the things have ever been as strong or as good between us (India-UK) as they are now,” Johnson told reporters after the programme. He also thanked PM Modi for the reception he was accorded in Gujarat. “I have never seen such a joyful reception. I would have not gotten the same reception anywhere else in the world. It was amazing to see your home state for the first time,” Johnson said, gesturing towards PM Modi.
Johnson’s visit will focus on driving the progress in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched earlier this year as a deal with India is predicted to boost UK’s total trade. The UK is also looking forward to increasing its footprint in defence production in India.
According to CNN-News18, the UK will work with India to boost security in the Indo-Pacific, including developing new fighter jet technology, helicopters and collaboration in the undersea battlespace.
People familiar with the developments also told CNN-News18 that the UK is likely to issue an open general export licence to India to reduce delivery times for defence procurements.
While the discussions between Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi are likely to concentrate on trade and enhancing bilateral ties, Johnson’s tweets and statements indicate that discussions on Ukraine and coaxing India to join the US, the UK and western Europe to condemn Russia.
The British High Commission said in the statement that during Boris Johnson’s visit India and the UK will confirm trade deals worth more than $1.3 billion and will also sign deals which will see creation of 11,000 jobs across the UK.
Read all the Latest News here
Comments
0 comment