London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet US President Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the US President flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord. Biden, who often speaks proudly of his Irish roots and the US's role in the peace accord, will arrive in Air Force One on Tuesday evening, reported news agency ANI citing Sky News. The US President will give a key address at Ulster University on Wednesday and will have a formal meeting with Sunak.
British PM Sunak is expected to use the visit to drum up long-term investment for the nation. A major policing operation costing around Pound 7 million and backed up by around 300 officers will be underway around the anniversary after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) warned of the potential of dissident republicans launching attacks.
Terrorism threat in Northern Ireland
Notably, the US president's visit comes amid a heightened terror threat in Northern Ireland, and with power-sharing in Stormont still on hold because of post-Brexit tensions. Biden will leave Northern Ireland on Wednesday for the Republic, where he will visit Dublin, Co Louth and Co Mayo.
MI5 recently raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.
British PM praises Northern Ireland's landmark 1988 peace accord
Meanwhile, Sunak on Sunday praised Northern Ireland's landmark 1988 peace accord. He was 17 when the Good Friday Agreement was agreed, largely ending three decades of violence in the UK province.
In a statement released by Downing Street, Sunak said the signing of the Good Friday Agreement was an "incredible moment" in the UK's history. The agreement ended the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland which claimed more than 3,500 lives, reported Sky News."It was a powerfully rare example of people doing the previously unthinkable to create a better future for Northern Ireland," the prime minister said.
"It is that promise of a better future that we offered to everyone in Northern Ireland that I will be thinking of first and foremost over the coming days. "It is my responsibility as the prime minister of the United Kingdom to ensure we are making good on that promise." Sunak was "relentlessly focused" on delivering economic growth in Northern Ireland, which he said is crucial to improving living standards, the statement added.
Sunak will participate in a number of events next week to commemorate the signing on April 10, 1998, of the US-brokered peace accord, agreed between the governments in London and Dublin, and the Northern Irish political parties. The pair will "undertake a programme of engagements", including a bilateral meeting, Sunak's Downing Street office said.
(With ANI inputs)
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