Boris Johnson visit: UK, India to sign several pacts; defence, more visas, lower duties on agenda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 21

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning to a grand welcome by troupes performing traditional Gujarati dances and music along a 4-km route from the airport to a city hotel.

“Yes, I am looking forward to our conversation. We will talk about trade, security and about issues of importance,’’ Johnson said about the agenda of his meeting with Modi in Delhi on Friday.

The two sides will be looking at implementation of a 10-year roadmap adopted at the summit last year to expand ties in key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others.

Separately, the UK High Commission said there will be a raft of agreements and UK and Indian businesses will confirm more than one billion pounds in new investments and export deals in areas from software engineering to health, creating almost 11,000 jobs across the UK.

As part of the bid to enter the Indian defence sector, Johnson met industrialist Gautam Adani for the second time in six months to discuss aerospace and defence collaboration besides other sectors. The UK wants to capitalise India’s plans to invest $300 billion by 2030 to modernise its armed forces largely through made-in-India products with foreign collaboration.

Johnson said the UK has already raised the Ukraine war issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added that everybody understands that India and Russia shared very different relationships historically.  “We have to reflect that reality while talking about it (Ukraine) to Narendra Modi,’’ he told the media in Halol in Panchmahals district of Gujarat, where he opened a new JCB factory as part of his two-day visit to India.

On his way to India, Johnson indicated he was ready to offer more visas to India in exchange for a free-trade deal. India wants relaxing rules for its citizens to live and work in Britain as well as lower fees for Indian students and professionals going to the country. Britain wants India to lower duties on its premium products such as Scotch whisky.

In Ahmedabad, Johnson had a slew of engagements including a closed-door meeting with the state’s prominent business leaders. He visited a manufacturing facility of JCB, a British construction equipment firm, near Halol in Panchmahal district, and the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. He also visited the campus of the under-construction Gujarat Biotechnology University in Gandhinagar in a tie-up with the UK’s University of Edinburgh and the Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Gandhi Ashram.

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