Johnson traveled to India to promote trade and security ties

London, Apr.16 (EFE) .- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will pay a state visit to India next week on a planned trip from 2019 aimed at strengthening trade and security ties between the two countries, the government announced this Saturday from the UK.

He will begin his stay in Ahmedabad on Thursday, where he will meet heads of leading companies, including a London chief executive making his first visit to India’s fifth-largest state of Gujarat. Of the Indian population in the UK.

On Friday, Johnson will meet with Asian national Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss common interests such as “strategic security and diplomatic and economic ties”. Security in the Indo-Pacific. “

Of note, the Conservative leader will use the visit to enhance negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement that began earlier this year, a British priority after Brexit.

The British government says the deal with India could increase UK total trade by 35 28 billion (approximately ப 34 billion) a year by 2035.

“When we face threats to our peace and prosperity from authoritarian governments, it is essential that democracies and friends unite,” Johnson said before the trip.

“India, as a major economic power and the largest democracy in the world, is a very valuable strategic partner for the UK in these uncertain times,” he said.

Johnson wanted to make his first international trip to India after coming to power in 2019, but the visit was postponed several times due to the epidemic. EFE

jm / ie

EFE 2022. Redistribution and redistribution of the contents of all or part of the EFE Services is strictly prohibited without the prior and express approval of Agencia EFE SA.