LONDON (CU)_British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to visit India at the end of April, as part of efforts to boost UK opportunities in the region, Number 10 Downing Street said.
This visit to the South Asian nation, which will be the Prime Minister’s first major international trip after Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, was initially scheduled for January this year, although these plans had to be cancelled owing to a surge in COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom.
At the time, the Prime Minister’s office said that he hoped to rearrange the visit in the first half of 2021, ahead of the G7 Summit hosted by the UK, for which, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to attend as a guest.
PM Johnson’s government said that as part of its Integrated Review of government policy for the coming years, it would “tilt” its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, since the area increasingly represents the geopolitical centre of the world.
London has already applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in order to gain high-level access to the region, while enhancing cooperation on various policy issues with the bloc, and other important partners, such as India, the US and China.
Moreover, the United Kingdom has also formally applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which is expected to create “enormous” opportunities and economic benefits for the European nation.
“One year after our departure from the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in January.
He noted that his country’s intention to join the CPTPP demonstrates the United Kingdom’s ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world, and be “an enthusiastic champion of global free trade”.
