UK PM calls India 'indispensable partner', says 'delighted to be visiting' next year

After accepting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation for being the Chief Guest on Republic Day, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed that he is ‘absolutely delighted’ to be visiting India. During his trip to India after meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, British Foreign Secretary on December 15 had announced that Johnson will be coming to India in 2021 when UK will also formally leave the European Union (EU). UK PM said that he is looking forward to delivering the “quantum leap” in the bilateral relationship between India and Britain. 

"I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next year at the start of an exciting year for Global Britain, and look forward to delivering the quantum leap in our bilateral relationship that Prime Minister Modi and I have pledged to achieve," said Johnson.

Boris Johnson hailed India for becoming “increasingly indispensable partner” for the UK while also being the “key player” in the Indo-Pacific region. Johnson also reiterated remarks made by British Foreign secretary following his bilateral meet with EAM of both nations working to ramp up jobs and growth along with confronting the shared threats. Uk PM also lauded India's vaccine production ability, especially amid the COVID-19 pandmeic.

"As a key player in the Indo-Pacific region, India is an increasingly indispensable partner for the United Kingdom as we work to boost jobs and growth, confront shared threats to our security and protect our planet," he said.

Johnson further said, "As the ‘pharmacy of the world’ India supplies more than 50% of the world’s vaccines, with over a billion doses of the UK’s Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured at India’s Serum Institute in Pune."

Earlier, in a joint press briefing after the meet, Raab confirmed Johnson’s presence in India’s celebration on January 26, 2021, and being the Republic Day Chief Guest. He also denoted it as a “great honour”. Dominic Raab said, "UK PM Johnson has also accepted the very generous invitation to attend India's Republic Day celebrations in January, which is a great honour.”

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UK wants to ‘deepen economic partnership’ with India

In the joint news briefing after meeting Jaishankar, Raab said that the UK is hoping to ‘deepen’ the partnership with India on the economic front. The British foreign secretary relayed UK’s ‘commitment’ of building a stronger defence system as well as a security partnership with India which would further help both the nations in tackling the common concerns including terrorism, privacy in Western Indian Ocean.

“We want to deepen our economic partnership with India...We're committed to building a stronger defence & security partnership with India, that will help us tackle shared issues related to terrorism, maritime security including piracy in Western Indian ocean,” said Raab.

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