Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit India at the end of April 2021, making it his first major international trip post-Brexit.
Mr Johnson’s trip around Indian Republic Day celebration on 26 January 2021 was cancelled following an increase in the Covid-19 cases as UK plunged into a third lockdown. This trip will be prior to his G7 meeting in the UK in June, which will be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab visited India in December followed by Liz Truss, Alok Sharma MP and currently Lord Ahmad. The UK is hoping for a better partnership, especially economic ties with India going forward.
The announcement of the India visit came right before Mr Johnson published the conclusions of his integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy that has set out some ‘tilts’ towards the Indo-Pacific region.
A statement said, “This year the Queen Elizabeth Carrier will undertake its first operational deployment to the region, the UK is applying for partner status at the Association of South East Asian nations and at the end of April the Prime Minister will travel to India on his first major international visit following our departure from the EU.”
India’s Foreign Secretary Dr Jaishankar welcomed the UK’s Indo-Pacific ‘tilt’ and promised that India will cooperate closely on global issues.
Britain made a formal request in February, to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) aiming to open new avenues for post-Brexit trade.
