Republic Day Parade 2021: This time at the Republic Day parade, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be the chief guest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending an invitation to his British counterpart last month. If the invitation is accepted, then he will be the first British PM to grace the Rajpath parade in 27 years. The last UK PM to be the chief guest at the January 26 parade was John Major in 1993.
If reports are to be believed, then PM Modi has formally extended an invitation to Johnson during a telephone conversation on November 27, while Boris reportedly invited PM Modi to the G7 summit which will be held in the United Kingdom next year.
Acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson, earlier in November, had hinted at UK premier’s visit to India.
“We are expecting UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be paying an in-person visit to India in the next few months. Beyond that, PM Boris Johnson is very very keen to come to India. So we hope, over the next few months, we will visit, by both FS Raab and PM Johnson,” Thompson said.
However, the British High Commission is yet to confirm the invitation acceptance. “We can’t confirm one way or other. PM Boris Johnson is keen to visit India as soon as possible,” news agency ANI quoted a British High Commission spokesperson as saying.
The timing of his proposed visit to India assumes significance as the UK is reaching “a make-or-break moment” on trade negotiations with the European Union. As per latest development, the UK has formally left the EU on January 31 but then entered a transition period under which EU laws apply until the end of this year to give citizens and businesses time to adapt.