New Delhi: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted India's "very generous" invite to be the Chief Guest of next month's Republic Day celebrations in Delhi, UK's Foreign Secretary said today, calling it "a great honour".
This is going to be Boris Johnson's first "major bilateral visit" since he took charge last year, hi office had highlighted.
The British PM had said in a statement, "I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next 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 (Narendra) Modi and I have pledged to achieve."
He is the second British leader since India's Independence to attend the Republic Day parade in Delhi as a guest of honour after John Major in 1993.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said his presence at the annual celebrations "would be in a way symbolic of a new era, and a new phase of India-UK ties."
Boris Johnson has invited PM Modi to join the G7 summit next year in Britain, said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab; India is going to be one of the three guest countries. Mr Raab had reached Delhi for a four-day visit to India and was welcomed by the Foreign Minister.
S Jaishankar said that the UK Foreign Secretary's visit is important as he comes at a time when the country is looking at a post-COVID world and also looking at a post-Brexit world from the perspective of the UK.
The British PM is going to utilise his visit to India to boost cooperation in areas that matter to the UK and that is the priority of India's international engagement throughout 2021- from trade and investment to defence and security, and health and climate change.
Calling India "an increasingly indispensable partner for the United Kingdom," Boris Johnson had described the country as "pharmacy of the world" in remarks that assume significance at a time when the fight against coronavirus is only raging.
The United Kingdom cleared Pfizer's vaccine earlier this month. In India, three vaccine makers, including American firm Pfizer, recently approached the drug controller DCGI for emergency approval.
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