UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit India for two days, from 21 April 2022 in an effort to strengthen security ties with the country. He will land in Ahmedabad, to visit the state of Gujarat followed by a trip to India’s capital New Delhi on 22 April, where a ceremonial reception will be held among other official engagements.
After having to cancel his trip twice due to the surge in Covid-19 cases, PM Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to focus on an in-depth discussion about the ‘strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership’ between UK-India, the Roadmap 2030 intensifying bilateral relationships, especially post-Brexit in areas such as healthcare, life sciences, technology etc. and the on-going Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. The FTA is projected to boost Britain's total trade by up to £28 billion annually by 2035.
In the proposed FTA, there are 26 chapters out of which four have already been agreed upon. This does not include eliminating tariff from Scotch whisky imports. However, it is believed that there has been significant progress in the remaining 22 chapters, to be finalised by the end of the year.
Mr Johnson and Mr Modi are also expected to talk about the current Russia-Ukraine war. The two countries have had conflicting views on the crisis, while the UK has imposed economic sanctions on Moscow, the Indian government has continued with its neutral diplomatic stance, refusing the UN’s call to back Security Council’s vote against Russia’s “aggression” towards Ukraine.
UK’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was in India last month, as part of a wider diplomatic push following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Itinerary and agenda
Sources have revealed on his maiden trip to India as the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson will first visit Ahmedabad on Thursday 21 April, where he will meet leading businesses and discuss UK and India’s booming trade, commercial partnership and people ties. This will be the first time for Mr Johnson visiting a western state in India, though as UK’s Foreign Secretary in 2017, he had visited Kolkata, in the state West Bengal, located in the eastern part of India.
Gujarat is India’s fifth-largest state and the ancestral home for British Gujaratis, who form around half of the Indian community living in the UK.
It is believed Mr Johnson during his trip will also announce collaboration in areas such as science, health and technology and propose investments in key industries, opening opportunities for jobs.
On Friday, the British Prime Minister will visit New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart on defence and trade. It is believed that India is actively seeking a new defence partnership with Britain including technology transfer, especially under the much celebrated ‘Make in India’ programme. The defence ties between UK-India have grown since Brexit as well as UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt in 2021. But Britain hopes that India will be able to increase its defence orders from the UK, without moving away or creating any animosity with old ties such as Russia.
Though it is not clear if Mr Johnson is accompanied by a business delegation, he is also expected to raise the topic of Khalistani activism on Britain’s soil and discuss regional issues such as Afghanistan. This trip that comes after the two PMs last met at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, also marks the 75 years of the UK-India relationship post-India's independence in 1947.
