Visit to Boris Johnsons on April 26 to unlock opportunities, a trade pact on the table

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to launch a new trade pact during his visit to India on April 26, his first major international visit since the United Kingdom left the European Union. Johnsons’ visit to New Delhi – The UK has indicated he would like to travel to Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai as well – seen to underscore the importance of the Indo-Pacific region, which the UK says is critical to our economy and security.

The Itinerary of British Prime Ministers in India is yet to be finalized, a senior government official said, indicating that Boris Johnson was eager to travel to four cities after completing official engagements in New Delhi on 26 April.

Johnson, who had spoken warmly about Prime Minister Modi at an international conference this week and hailed his fantastic leadership, was scheduled to be in the national capital as the main guest at the Republic Day parade in January. But he had to cancel the trip at the last minute as a new strain of Sars-CoV-2 virus led to an increase in coronavirus cases in his country.

Prime Minister Johnson, who was with Covid-19 last year, was given the first dose of the vaccine on Friday. The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is being developed by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines based in Pune, one of four cities on its route.

The Indo-Peace Axis

The official confirmation this week regarding Boris Johnsons’s visit to India coincides with his country recalibrating its foreign and defense policy to lean towards the Indo-Pacific region. India, along with other Asian powers like Japan and South Korea, are key players in the stones of Britain’s new policy.

The region is already critical to our economy and security; is a focal point for negotiating international laws, rules and norms; and will become more important to the UK’s prosperity over the next decade, Britains said the integrated review of security, defense, development and foreign policy, he said most comprehensively since the end of the Cold War.

Boris Johnson had worked on this approach months ago. Just like when his government listened to India, before Johnsons’ November 27 phone call with Prime Minister Modi, that he was open to traveling to Delhi to be the main guest at the Republic Day parade.

Or when his government announced in December that it would send its largest warship, the Queen HMS 65,000 tonnes of HMS, to the Indo-Pacific region at its first deployment in 2021. The review, which referred to the growing claim of China, noted most of the UK’s trade with Asia depends on transport passing through a number of Indo-Pacific drowning points.

Local media reports indicate that 3 billion ( 27,177 crore) Royal Navy aircraft carrier, which can carry up to 40 fighter jets, spent most of this week on an ammunition dock in western Scotland to charge operational stores to prepare for this deployment in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and East Asia.

Trade Pact

In addition to cementing the Indo-Pacific pivot, officials said trade is likely to remain a key point in the focus of Boris Johnsons’ discussions on Brexit.

Britain is eager to deepen economic ties with India, the second largest investor in the British economy, and has tried to persuade New Delhi for a two-step free trade agreement. India is the UK’s sixth largest trading partner outside the European Union. In 2019-20, UK-India bilateral trade grew by over 11 percent to almost mil 24 billion. The UK was the largest European market for Indian goods exports in the 2019-20 financial year.

Officials said an expanded trade partnership between the two countries, revised in February at ministerial level, would be launched during Johnsons’ trip to India. “We have taken steps to remove barriers to trade and the hope is that an Extended Trade Partnership will lead to a positive free trade agreement (FTA) with India in the future, Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of Commonwealth in it foreign, community and development office, said in January. “The ultimate goal is an FTA.

The two sides are also expected to try to finalize trade pacts in areas such as pharmaceuticals, fintech, chemicals, petroleum and food products, described by officials as early harvest agreements, to give bilateral trade a strong boost.

Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Johnson are also expected to discuss cooperation in science and technology, health and the G7 Summit to be held in June in Cornwalls Carbis Bay. Prime Minister Modi, along with the leaders of Australia and South Korea, has been invited to the summit these years as guests. The UK, US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan make up the G7.

The Serum Institute of India is one of the leading suppliers of coronavirus

A delayed shipment of AstraZeneca Plcs Covid-19 vaccine from India is behind a supply disruption in the UK starting later this month, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Change in approach but …

Indian officials point out that there has been a marked change in London’s attitude towards New Delhi under the Boris Johnson administration, particularly in the context of India ‘s concerns over terrorism, security and interference in its internal affairs. That change in approach came through, an Indian official said, when Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla briefed his UK counterpart last November on Indian concerns about the terror emanating from Pakistan. Or when UK Home Secretary Priti Patel conveyed to New Delhi that London would not allow a repeat of the anti-CAA protests.

But New Delhi was upset when lawmakers took part in a debate on farm laws and criticized the Indian government because of pressure from a large number of the Indian diaspora, many of them from the Punjab. New Delhi called on British envoy Alex Ellis to stage a protest against what he said was an unfair and biased debate in the UK Parliament.

New Delhi is also concerned about the pace at which extradition proceedings are moving in the case of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya and diamond Nirav Modi. Officials said India and Britain signed an extradition treaty in 1992. But so far, only one extradition has taken place from the UK to India under the agreement – Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to be faced trial over his alleged involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Officials said Mallya and Nirav Modi, on the other hand, were using all legal and political means to ensure they were not extradited.

The Indian government is also concerned about an ongoing effort by MPs with a large part of their electorate from Mirpur to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to further Islamabad agenda by claiming human rights violations in the Jammu issue and Kashmir to target New Delhi.