Will Boris Johnson be India's Republic Day Chief Guest? Here is what an official says
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be India's chief guest at 2021 Republic Day, a report in the Hindustan Times mentioned. It claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally invited Johnson during their November 27 telephonic conversation. Further, it said that the British prime minister also invited PM Modi to the G-7 Summit in the United Kingdom next year.
"We cannot confirm one way or other, PM Boris Johnson is keen to visit as soon as possible," news agency ANI quoted British High Commission Spokesperson, as saying.
Earlier on November 27, PM Modi said that he had an excellent discussion with his friend UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on an ambitious road-map for India-UK ties in the next decade.
“We agreed to work towards a quantum leap in our cooperation in all areas — trade and investments, defence and security, climate change and fighting Covid-19,” Modi wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, Boris Johnson had extended greetings to his Indian counterpart “friend” Narendra Modi on his 70th birthday, expressing hope that the two leaders would meet soon. The two leaders are known to share a strong personal rapport, with the prospect of his visit to India next year under consideration, contingent upon the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
The leaders last met on the sidelines of the multilateral G7 summit in Biarritz, France, last year. Modi's last visit to the UK as Prime Minister was a year earlier for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018, during which he held bilateral meetings with then prime minister, Theresa May.
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