Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister to Visit India in April

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced inside the British parliament,  his visit to India next month to strengthen the bilateral ties. He informed the parliament about invitation to India for the G7 Summit. Seen as  a major shift in British Foreign Policy, PM says UK will prioritise its relations with Asian countries and focus more on Indo Pacific.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was supposed to be the chief guest at Republic Day, but due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the UK and the spread of a new strain, he cancelled his visit. The announcement of the visit comes close on the heels of Quad Summit which is seen as UK’s interest in expanding influence in Indo Pacific while preserving its strong ties with the United States. The world will be watching with great interest the country’s post-Brexit defence and foreign policy. On the upcoming visit, Johnson’s office said, “…it would ’tilt’ its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region as part of its Integrated Review of government policy for the coming years, saying the area increasingly represented the geopolitical centre of the world.”

Relations between the United Kingdom and China have strained over issues such as Hong Kong, COVID-19 pandemic and also denying Huawei an active role in Britain’s 5G network. In past few weeks, India has also been miffed at the statements coming out from British lawmakers regarding farmers protests and one sided discussions in UK Parliament. The UK High Commissioner was summoned to MEA to convey India’s displeasure. Subsequently on Monday, issue of racism in UK was highlighted in Lok Sabha in the midst of controversy over resignation of Indian Origin student Rashmi Samant from the post of Oxford University Students Union as well as Meghan Markle interview in which British Royals were drawn into racism controversy.

The UK and India are significant investors and markets for each other’s economies with growing trade and investment relationship worth around £24 billion a year, supporting more than half a million jobs. The first major international visit by PM Johnson is expected to take the India United Kingdom relations to a higher orbit in the post Brexit era.