PM Modi congratulates Boris Johnson on big win in UK election, says ‘look forward to working together for closer India-UK ties’

PM Modi tweeted, “Many congratulations to PM Boris Johnson for his return with a thumping majority. I wish him the best and look forward to working together for closer India-UK ties”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Britain’s PM Boris Johnson who is set to return to power with a thumping majority after the Conservative Party wrested a large number of seats from Labour on Friday, in UK election.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Biarritz, France August 25, 2019. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS(REUTERS)

“Many congratulations to PM @BorisJohnson for his return with a thumping majority. I wish him the best and look forward to working together for closer India-UK ties,” PM Modi said on Twitter. 

Johnson’s Conservative Party has won a solid majority of seats in Britain’s Parliament - a decisive outcome to a Brexit-dominated election that should allow Johnson to fulfill his plan to take the UK out of the European Union next month.

The Conservative Party had used PM Modi’s video ahead of the elections to woo the Indian voters.

‘Boris ko hamein jitana hai’, says the latest video, set to a song with lyrics in Hindi and images of PM Modi and the Indian high commissioner, Ruchi Ghanashyam, among others. The Conservative party has been ideologically and otherwise closer to the BJP in recent years.

Benefiting from ennui over Labour’s stance on Kashmir, the Conservative party and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have been hitting the right buttons for the increasingly assertive community, visiting temples and promising easier visa norms before the elections.

The victory in this year’s election will likely make Johnson the most electorally successful Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher, another politician who was loved and loathed in almost equal measure. It was a disaster for left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who faced calls for his resignation even as the results rolled in.

Corbyn called the result “very disappointing” for his party and said he would not lead Labour into another election, though he resisted calls to quit immediately.