Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), is scheduled to visit India in April of this year to strengthen bilateral ties. This will be PM Johnson’s first major foreign trip since Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in January of last year.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit India at the end of April in what will be his first major international trip after Britain’s exit from the European Union as part of efforts to boost UK opportunities in the region, his office said on Monday: Reuters pic.twitter.com/tvbxccjLDD
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2021
Prime Minister Johnson was invited to India’s Republic Day celebrations in January of this year. His visit to India was supposed to accelerate bilateral trade talks. However, owing to an increase in Covid-19 cases in the UK, he was forced to postpone his visit. Prior to PM Johnson’s planned visit in January of this year, his office reportedly announced that he will fly to India in January 2021 to improve a core strategic partnership that promotes employment and investment in the UK.
The visit to India is seen as his first big trip since assuming office, and the first since the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. After the trip was canceled, his office officially stated that PM Johnson hoped to reschedule his visit to India before hosting the Group of Seven (G7) leaders meeting in June. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to attend the G7 Summit as a visitor. Apart from the member countries, Britain is hosting the G7 conference this year, and Australia and South Korea are among the other invitees.
“…as part of its Integrated Analysis of government strategy for the coming years, it will ‘tilt’ its attention towards the Indo-Pacific region, claiming the field gradually reflected the strategic core of the world,” PM Johnson’s office said of his upcoming visit. The UK made a formal invitation to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an 11-country bloc, last month in order to open up new avenues for trade and control post-Brexit. Britain has also applied to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a dialogue partner (ASEAN). “We are negotiating trade agreements from Australia to the United States and around the world, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region.”
