Tawqeer Hussain | New Delhi
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was scheduled to visit India later this month, has cancelled his India visit due to the current coronavirus situation, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirms on Monday.
The statement issued by the MEA said that the two leaders will instead hold the virtual meeting later this month to launch their plans for the future UK-India partnership.
“In view of the prevailing Covid situation, it has been decided by mutual agreement that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will not visit India next week. The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship. Both leaders attach the highest importance to taking the India-UK partnership to its fullest potential and propose to remain in close touch in this regard and look forward to an in-person meeting later in the year,” said Arindam Bagchi, the official MEA Spokesperson in a response to media queries on Mr Johnson’s visit.
The visit, previously postponed from a Republic Day tour in January, was supposed to be the first major bilateral visit by the British Prime Minister outside Europe since the UK general election in December 2019. The visit was aimed at strengthening trade ties, investment and cooperation in various areas, including defence, security, health and climate change.
