New Delhi: At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Britain PM Boris Johnson will pay an official visit to India on April 21. This will be Johnson’s maiden visit to India as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
On Thursday, April 21, Johnson would land in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where he is expected to announce a major investment in key industries. The bilateral talks between the two leaders will be held on Friday in Delhi.
“Prime Minister Johnson will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and will hold bilateral consultations with the Prime Minister on April 22,” an MEA statement said.
India-United Kingdom relationship elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK Virtual Summit in 2021.
“The Prime Ministers will review implementation of the Roadmap 2030 and set their vision for further intensifying cooperation across the full spectrum of bilateral ties. They will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA stated.
Gujarat is not only the native state of PM Modi but also the state with significant diaspora connections and is also the ancestral home of around half of the British-Indian population in the UK.
PM Modi’s Gujarat visit begins on Monday, April 18 and on the first day, he will visit the Command and Control Centre for Schools in Gandhinagar.
According to sources, on the second day of his visit, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects at Banas Dairy Sankul in Diyodar, Banaskantha and will dedicate them to the nation.
He will also lay the foundation stone of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar.
On April 20, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.
“The Command and Control Centre for Schools helps track daily online attendance of teachers and students, undertake centralised summative and periodic assessments of learning outcomes of students, etc. The Command and Control Centre for Schools has been deemed a global best practice by the World Bank, which has also invited other countries to visit and learn about it,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Last May, India and the UK announced a partnership involving more than 530 million pounds of Indian investment into Britain, and Downing Street said Johnson was expected to announce further major investment and new collaboration on cutting-edge science, health and technology.
“The UK and India share many fundamental values… There is a living bridge uniting the people of our countries,” Mr Johnson said in a statement.
