New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday did not elaborate too much on India’s stance on the Russian aggression in Ukraine, while he hoped to complete a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the country by autumn.
Johnson said: “Well, they’ve already raised Ukraine, as you can imagine with Prime Minister Modi. And actually, if you look at what the Indians have said, they were very strong in their condemnation of the atrocities in Bucha.”
Johnson added: “As I think everybody understands, India and Russia have, historically, a very different relationship, perhaps than Russia and the UK have had over the last couple of decades. We have to reflect that reality, but clearly, I’ll be talking about it to Narendra Modi.”
The British Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to India and will meet Narendra Modi on Friday.
Johnson said in Ahmedabad Thursday that the UK was “making an Indo-Pacific tilt in our integrated review of our national defence and security strategy”. “There is an opportunity for us to deepen our security and defence partnership,” he added.
He said it would be the “right thing to do given the huge portion of the world economy and the growth of the world economy that can be found in this area. And India and UK both share anxieties about autocracies around the world, we’re both democracies and we want to stick together.”
Johnson added, “We’re hoping to complete another free trade agreement with India by the end of the year, by the autumn.”
He had a busy day in Ahmedabad Thursday, attending several events, and also met industrialist Gautam Adani.
Adani tweeted: “Honoured to host Boris Johnson, the first UK PM to visit Gujarat, at Adani HQ. Delighted to support climate & sustainability agenda with a focus on renewables, green H2 & new energy. Will also work with UK companies to co-create Defence & Aerospace technologies.”
Honoured to host @BorisJohnson, the first UK PM to visit Gujarat, at Adani HQ. Delighted to support climate & sustainability agenda with focus on renewables, green H2 & new energy. Will also work with UK companies to co-create defence & aerospace technologies. #AtmanirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/IzoRpIV6ns
— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) April 21, 2022
Also read: Industrialist Gautam Adani hosts UK PM Boris Johnson, discusses tie-ups in defence
Source: The Print
