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‘Felt like Sachin Tendulkar…’: British PM defines his India visit| Top quotes
On day 1 of his India visit, Boris Johnson was in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the final day of his two-day visit to India held talks with Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Both leaders discussed a range of issues including the ongoing war in Ukraine, keeping the Indo-pacific region "free and open", and deepening climate and energy partnership.
On Friday, India and the United Kingdom also signed a new defence cooperation agreement and a bilateral free-trade deal between the two countries could be wrapped by October.
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On day 1 of his India visit, Boris Johnson was in PM Modi's home state of Gujarat. He paid a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar and the Gujarat Biotechnology University near the state capital. He also met industrialist Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad, and opened the UK-headquartered heavy equipment maker JCB's latest factory in the Panchmahals district.
Let's take a look at the top quotes by the British premier which grabbed a lot of headlines.
> "My friend, Prime Minister Narendra, my "khaas dost" (special friend), we've had a fantastic few days here in India. And yesterday, I became the first Conservative Prime Minister to visit Gujarat, which is your birthplace. I had an amazing reception."
> "I felt like Sachin Tendulkar upon my arrival and also like Amitabh Bachchan. I was everywhere to be seen. It was fantastic".
> Amid India's concerns over Khalistani elements in the UK, Boris Johnson said that his country does not tolerate extremist groups “operating in the UK and targeting other countries."
> On the Ukraine war, which will soon complete two months, the UK Prime Minister said that he agreed with India's stand on the Russian offensive as it has a historic relationship with Moscow which everybody understands and respects. “What Indians want is peace and they want Russia out,” Johnson added.
> Johnson said that the new defence cooperation agreement "will enable India to strengthen its domestic defence industry as well as protecting vital shared interests in the Indo-Pacific."
> The UK PM also said that skilled workers from India could plug labour shortages in sectors including information technology in his country. "If you look, for instance, at IT or computer programming, there are areas where there's no question that Indian skills can make a difference," he said.
(With inputs from Reuters, PTI)
