New Delhi: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is on a two-day visit to India has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at the Hyderabad House in the national capital. Both the leaders will hold in-depth talks on the UK and India's strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering close partnership and stepping up security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Boris Johnson reached Delhi late Thursday, where Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar received him at the Airport. On Friday morning, Johnson was accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan and later visited the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi.
The UK Prime Minister will also hold talks with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar. On the same afternoon, the two sides will issue a press statement at around 1 pm at Hyderabad House. Johnson arrived in Gujarat on Thursday for the start of his two-day visit to India. According to a statement by the British High Commission, Johnson will use the visit to drive progress in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched earlier this year as a deal with India is predicted to boost UK's total trade by up to 28 billion pounds annually by 2035 and increase incomes across the UK by up to 3 billion pounds.
