As India celebrates 75 years of Independence from the British Colonial rule this August 15, it also implies 75 years of eventually letting go of the trauma and aftermath of its horrifying colonial past, while navigating the socio-economic, cultural and political consequences of imperialism. On this historic note, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally made his long due - and officially first visit to India as the PM of the UK from 21-22 April 2022.
PM Johnson was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 22 April 2022, where he was received by Prime Minister Modi. Johnson later visited Raj Ghat to lay a wreath and pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Prime Minister Modi held bilateral consultations with the visiting Prime Minister at Hyderabad House and also hosted a banquet in his honour.
Johnson visited Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where he tried his hand at the charkha. In a note penned in the visitor’s book of Sabarmati Ashram, Johnson paid tribute to Gandhi, saying, “It is an immense privilege to come to the Ashram of this extraordinary man and to understand how he mobilised such simple principles of truth and non-violence to change the world to get better.” Johnson was also gifted a copy of the autobiography of Madeleine Slade, better known as Mirabehn, who was the daughter of a British admiral who later went on to become a disciple of Gandhi.
A visit to Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar
On Thursday, 21 April 2022, Boris Johnson visited Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, India.
He was greeted at the ornately carved stone Mayur Dwar with a garland of flowers by Pujya Ishwarcharandas Swami, International Convenor of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), on behalf of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the inspirer of Swaminarayan Akshardham and spiritual head of BAPS. The PM was accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, High Commissioner of UK to India, HE Alex Ellis. Sanjay Kara from the Neasden Temple in London was also present to welcome the prime minister and his delegation.
Johnson was overwhelmed and commented, “This is the mother of all mandirs. It is the source of your wonderful mandirs across the world.”
Inside the main monument, he paid respects to the murti of Bhagwan Swaminarayan by offering flowers and admired the art and architecture. Prime Minister Johnson conveyed his best wishes for the ongoing worldwide Pramukh Swami Maharaj Centenary Celebrations and the grand 30-day festival to be held in Ahmedabad from 15 December 2022 to 13 January 2023.
Mr Johnson shared, “Every time I visit a BAPS temple I am uplifted and feel a sense of deep spirituality. All of you, by your selfless work, values and goodness, are contributing in an amazing way towards world development.”
India-UK Together
The two leaders welcomed the "India/UK Together” programme, marking India’s 75th year of independence through the promotion of the rich cultural ties between both countries, and the additional fully funded scholarships which would enable 75 Indian students to study in the UK in India’s anniversary year.
"I thank PM Narendra Modi and the people of India for the grand welcome. I felt like Sachin Tendulkar upon my arrival and also like Amitabh Bachchan when I saw hoardings everywhere," he said, addressing PM Modi as his "khaas dost" (special friend).”
"I would have not gotten the same reception anywhere else in the world. It was amazing to see your (PM Modi's) home state for the first time," Johnson said.
In a press statement, Johnson further explained, “These partnerships form the superstructure of the Living Bridge that Narendra describes between our countries, and today that bridge is humming with goods and services and people and capital, whizzing back and forth east to west and sometimes it can be hard to tell whether something is British, or Indian or frankly Brindian.”
‘Bull-dozed’ by controversy
The UK PM arrived in India amid absolute unrest in Delhi over the demolition of mainly Muslim settlements in an area of the capital hit by communal violence – an issue that is being considered by India’s supreme court. TV footage about the demolition controversy, running prominently on Indian channels, showed JCB bulldozers being used to flatten properties. At the same time, Boris visited the JCB plant in India and was pictured riding one. Netizens called him ‘Tone Deaf’ for inaugurating the JCB Plant amid the ongoing controversy.
The campaign group Amnesty India tweeted: “In the backdrop of Municipal Corporation of Delhi using JCB bulldozers to raze down shops of Muslims in north-west Delhi’s Jahangirpuri yesterday, UK prime minister’s inauguration of a JCB factory in Gujarat is not only ignorant but his silence on the incident is deafening.”
Challenged about whether he would raise the demolition controversy with Narendra Modi when he meets the Indian prime minister on Friday, Johnson said: “We always raise the difficult issues, of course, we do, but the fact is that India is a country of 1.35 billion people and it is democratic, it’s the world’s largest democracy.”
The prime minister’s official spokesperson, when asked whether Johnson had visited the company because its chairman, Anthony Bamford, is a Conservative donor, responded: “No, he chose to go to the JCB factory because it is a very good illustration of UK business, working with India and the Indian government to benefit both the UK and India.”
In a press statement, the UK PM said, “On Wednesday I went to the airport in a Range Rover - Indian-owned, but made in Britain. And when I arrived here on Thursday, I visited JCB, British-owned, but made in India. Exporting 60,000 every year around the world, 110 countries. Or take the example of the Norton Motorbike now being revived in Britain by an Indian company. I’m very pleased that this visit has not only deepened our economic partnership.
“We’ve agreed on new deals worth £1 billion, and created more than 11,000 new jobs across the UK, in everything from electric buses to the robotic surgery of Smith and Nephew which I saw yesterday as well as in artificial intelligence, where India’s strengths are remarkable. And perhaps most significantly for the long term, we are making full use of the freedom that we now have to reach a Free Trade Agreement,
a deal where you can lift those tariffs – you can, India, Narendra, on our machinery and apples – actually you’ve already done it on apples so thank you for the apples
and we, in turn, we can lift the tariffs on your rice and textiles. We’ve already closed four chapters, and today we’re announcing new measures to make it easier to export UK-made medical devices to India and ensure mutual recognition of UK higher education qualifications.
“And as the next round of talks begins here next week, we are telling our negotiators: get it done by Diwali in October. Get it done by Diwali. This could double our trade and investment by the end of the decade widening that living bridge into a multi-lane motorway – pulivating with beautiful jointly made electric vehicles and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in both our countries.
“So as India celebrates its 75th year of independence, I am filled with optimism about the years ahead and the depth of the friendship between our countries, and the security and prosperity that our partnership can deliver for our people for generations to come.”
India’s Foreign Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla welcomed the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Gayatri Issar Kumar, as well as the Joint Secretary looking after Europe West division in the Ministry of External Affairs, Sandeep Chakravorty.
Earlier, the External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, called on the UK Prime Minister.
In the bilateral talks, the two Prime Ministers appreciated the progress made on the Roadmap 2030 launched at the Virtual Summit in May 2021 and reiterated their commitment to pursue more robust and action-oriented cooperation across the full spectrum of bilateral relations.
Ukraine Russia conflict and India’s stand
Acknowledging India's strong condemnation of what happened to Ukraine's Bucha, Boris Johnson said, “Talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made it clear that he has already intervened several times and I am sure this is no secret from our Indian (media) friends, he has talked to Vladimir Putin several times.
"What Indians want is peace and they want Russia out. And I totally agree. And I think there is a difference in balance as India has a historic relationship with Russia that everybody understands and respects that goes back decades.
"What was so interesting about the last couple of days was the way in which Britain and India are being really encouraged, obliged by the pressure against autocratic coercion.. whether it's Russia or China or whatever to do more together. And that is offering a huge, huge joint agenda.”
The Indian jab
Both Prime Ministers recalled the highly successful collaboration on the AstraZeneca/Oxford University Vaccine with the Serum Institute of India (SII).
"I have the Indian jab (manufactured by SII) in my arms and the power of good it did me so many thanks to India and that has helped India to become, what Narendra has called the 'Pharmacy of the world'," Johnson said.
The two leaders welcomed the launch of the Indian arm of the RECOVERY global clinical trial of Covid-19 therapeutics with the support of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and a new UK-India partnership through the Fleming Fund to tackle anti-microbial resistance. They welcomed recent investments by SII in the UK, which focused on vaccine research, development and manufacturing.
What’s in store for the diaspora and Indians back home?
Both leaders celebrated the deep and vibrant people-to-people ties between the two countries, fostered by the living bridge of 1.6 million strong Indian diaspora in the UK, and agreed to further strengthen this special bond. They also announced their intention to cooperate on establishing mechanisms for sharing information on Criminal Records, preferably before March 2023.
With India and the UK already sharing strong trade ties, Boris Johnson indicated he was ready to offer more visas to India in return for this year clinching a free-trade deal that could boost annual bilateral trade by billions of pounds, according to a Reuters report.
The leaders emphasised the need for close collaboration between the higher education sectors of the two countries and welcomed the ongoing efforts to establish transnational education programmes in both countries.
Trade and Prosperity - GIFT City
“What people want in our country is for the government to get on and focus on issues on which we were elected and that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said amid massive criticism for partygate.
“I think they will be particularly interested in jobs and growth in the UK – a memorandum of understanding, principles today on wind power, gigantic ambitions for more wind energy,” he added.
The two leaders welcomed the strong resilience shown by the economies of India and the UK and the positive growth in bilateral trade showcasing the potential to double trade by 2030, as envisaged in the Roadmap 2030. They welcomed the launch of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in January 2022 in New Delhi. They set a target to conclude the majority of talks on a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement by the end of October 2022.
They specifically highlighted the successful India-UK collaborations between GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, India's first International Financial Service Centre) and the UK's financial services ecosystem and agreed to develop greater linkages between the two countries’ financial markets. They noted the successful resolution of recent taxation issues as a positive step to further strengthen investor confidence on both sides.
USD 1 billion investment through British International Investment
Prime Minister Modi welcomed UK's commitment to public finance to the tune of USD 1 billion investment through British International Investment (BII) (previously CDC Group), the UK’s Development Finance Institution, into climate-related projects in India over the period of 2022-2026.
Boris speaks up on extradition cases
Boris Johnson said that extradition cases were stuck due to legal technicalities, on being asked about Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and other Khalistani extremists. “We've set up an anti-extremist task force to help India...UK govt ordered extradition...We don’t welcome people who want to use our legal system to evade the law in India," The British PM mentioned.“We don't tolerate extremist groups setting up in the UK threatening other countries, threatening India," the British PM stated that the UK government has set up an anti-extremist task force to help India. On being asked about fugitives Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya who have sought refuge in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "the UK government has ordered their extradition".
Climate action
Through the Global Innovation Partnership, India and UK have agreed to co-finance up to £ 75 million to support the transfer and scale-up of climate-smart sustainable innovations to third countries. Prime Minister Modi invited Prime Minister Johnson to India in 2023 for G20 Summit under India’s Presidency. Prime Minister Johnson reiterated his invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit the UK. Prime Minister Modi accepted the invitation. Modi and Johnson reiterated the need for developed countries to meet their climate finance goals including delivering on the $100bn and doubling adaptation finance by 2025.
