New Delhi: India has invited Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson as the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations in 2021.
Reports of the invitation to Borris Johnson come on a day when UK became the first country in the world to approve the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, with the rollout set to begin early next week.
According to reports, India had extended the invitation to the UK during a telephonic conversation that took place between the two sides on November 27, 2020.
Although there is no official confirmation of the visit, the timing is important as PM Modi is likely to visit London next year to attend the G-7 summit for which the British PM has extended him an invitation.
Pertinently, a proposal to invite India and expand the G-7 grouping came from US President Donald Trump when he invited PM Modi to attend the G-7 meeting this year.
However, the British High Commission is yet to confirm the acceptance. According to sources, the Spokesperson of British High Commission on reports of India’s invitation to UK PM for Republic Day said, “We cannot confirm one way or the other, PM Boris Johnson keen to visit India as soon as possible."
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The timing of the proposed visit also assumes significance with the UK reaching “a make-or-break moment” on trade negotiations with the European Union. Britain formally left the EU on January 31 but then entered a transition period under which EU laws apply until the end of this year to give citizens and businesses time to adapt. A free trade deal needs to be in place by Jan 1.
India had last month held a virtual dialogue to review the progress towards a post-Brexit Enhanced Trade Partnership with Britain, which could lead to a free trade agreement in the future.
Earlier in November, acting High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson said” We are expecting UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be paying an in-person visit to India in the next few months. Beyond that, PM Boris Johnson is very keen to come to India. So we hope, over the next few months, we will visit, by both FS Raab and PM Johnson”.
It is learnt that if Johnson attends the Republic Day parade in 2021, he would be the first British PM in the last 28 years to visit India as the chief guest of the constitutional event. For information, the last UK PM who attended the ceremony as the main guest of honor was John Major in the year 1993.
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