UK PM Boris Johnson arrives in Gujarat, begins 2-day India visit
Premium- The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived today morning in Gujarat and has kickstarted his two-day India visit
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, early this morning. This begins his two-day visit to India, according to news agency ANI report.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce major investments in key industries in India and push for democracies to stick together in the face of threats from “autocratic states" during his two-day visit to India from April 21.
The British Prime Minister additionally faced calls to apologise for a colonial-era massacre when he visits the Indian state of Gujarat Thursday, 100 years after as many as 1,200 people were killed protesting against imperial rule, according to AFP report.
Last month saw the centenary of the Pal-Dadhvav massacre, when Indian historians say around 2,000 tribal people led by social reformer Motilal Tejawat gathered to protest against exploitation, forced labour and high taxes. According to the Gujarat state government, British Major HG Sutton ordered his troops to open fire. "Like a battlefield, the entire area was filled with corpses," it said. Two wells, it added, were "overflowing with bodies".
The state's official float at this year's annual Republic Day parade depicted the killings as the "untold story of bravery and sacrifice of the tribals", it said in a statement that put the death toll at 1,200.
According to news agency ANI report, The autobiography of Madeleine Slade or Mirabehn, the daughter of a British admiral who became the Mahatma Gandhi's disciple will be gifted to UK PM Boris Johnson by Sabarmati Ashram One of the first two books written by Mahatma Gandhi but it was never published.
Ahead of his visit, Downing Street had said in a statement, "the visit will begin from Ahmedabad on Thursday to meet with leading businesses and discuss the UK and India's thriving commercial, trade and people links. This will be the first time a UK Prime Minister will visit Gujarat, India's fifth-largest state and the ancestral home of around half of the British-Indian population in the UK."
(With inputs from agencies)