British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was to attend the Republic Day celebration has now called off the visit. This comes after more transmissible variant of the Chinese coronavirus was found in UK patients.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he hopes to be able to visit India in the first half of 2021, and ahead of the UK’s G7 Summit that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to attend as a guest: UK Govt
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2021
Johnson was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. He said that he hopes to visit India in later part of the year ahead of UK’s G7 summit which PM Modi is due to attend.
The United Kingdom is currently under nationwide lockdown due to increased number of cases as well as mutated coronavirus strain.
As per Reuters, Johnson has cancelled his visit citing the need to oversee pandemic response at home as the reason. British PM Johnson spoke to PM Modi and conveyed his regret at his inability to attend the Republic Day celebrations in India on 26th January.
UK under strict lockdown
The UK is currently under strict lockdown to curb the coronavirus cases. All schools and colleges will remain shut starting today. All are advised to stay at home. The lockdown is expected to last at least till mid-February. By mid-February UK expects to vaccinate the top four priority groups like frontline workers, people over 70 years of age and other vulnerable people.
Similarly, Scotland and Wales too have imposed lockdowns where schools and colleges are expected to remain shut till 18th January at least.