NEW DELHI, Jan 5: The British prime minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his visit to India later this month in the wake of the six-week lockdown declared in his country on Monday night following a spate in the Coronavirus cases.
Johnson had earlier accepted his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in Delhi.
Johnson spoke to Modi on Tuesday and expressed his inability to undertake the trip to India. A spokesman of the British PMO said, “The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned.”
“In light of the national lockdown announced last night, and the speed at which the new coronavirus variant is spreading, the Prime Minister said it was important for him to remain in the UK so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus.
“The leaders underlined their shared commitment to the bilateral relationship and to continuing to build on the close collaboration between our countries – including in response to the pandemic.
“The Prime Minister also said that he hopes to be able to visit India in the first half of 2021, and ahead of the UK’s G7 Summit that Prime Minister Modi is due to attend as a guest.”
(Manas Dasgupta)