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UK PM Johnson calls off visit to India over Covid-19 situation
The UK government said last week it had decided to reduce the length of Johnson’s visit following discussions with the Indian side. The Indian mission in London had announced the visit was to begin on April 25
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday called off a planned visit to India this week because of the Covid-19 situation, the second time this year he has deferred a trip to the country due to the pandemic.
The UK government said last week it had decided to reduce the length of Johnson’s visit following discussions with the Indian side. The Indian mission in London had announced the visit was to begin on April 25.
“In the light of the current Coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week. Instead, Prime Ministers [Narendra] Modi and Johnson will speak later this month to agree and launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership between the UK and India,” said a spokesperson for the UK prime minister’s office.
Johnson and Modi will remain in “regular contact beyond this, and look forward to meeting in person later this year”, the spokesperson added.
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External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi added the decision to call off the visit had been made by mutual agreement. “The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship,” he said.
Modi and Johnson “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”, Bagchi said.
In January, Johnson cancelled a visit to India to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in order to remain in Britain to focus on his government’s response to a new Coronavirus variant that was spreading rapidly at the time.
While unveiling an integrated review of defence, development and foreign policy in March, the UK announced Johnson would travel to India at the end of April as part of the Britain’s tilt towards the Indo-Pacific.
Monday’s development came against the backdrop of mounting criticism in Britain for Johnson’s plans to go ahead with the trip to New Delhi at a time when India is witnessing a massive surge in Covid-19 infections. The country recorded more than 270,000 cases and more than 1,600 deaths on Sunday.
Experts also called on the UK government to add India to its “red list” of travel restrictions following the detection of 77 cases of the Indian “double mutant” Covid-19 variant. Experts from Imperial College said the discovery of this variant should lead to India being placed in the “red list”, under which incoming travellers are subject to hotel quarantine of 10 days.
On Sunday, the main opposition Labour Party joined calls for Johnson to cancel his visit to India. “I can’t see why the prime minister can’t conduct his business with the Indian government via Zoom,” said Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed.
“The prime minister, like all of us in public life, needs to try and set an example. I’d much rather the prime minister did it by Zoom rather than travelling to India,” Reed told Sky News.
