UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson likely to be Republic Day chief guest

Johnson’s visit is likely to be officially announced by GoI and the UK once the invitation is formally accepted by 10 Downing Street in London

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day of India on January 26 next year.

New Delhi has extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to visit India in the last week of January and attend the Republic Day ceremony on the Rajpath in the national capital, sources said.

Johnson’s visit to New Delhi is likely to be officially announced by the government of India and the UK once the invitation is formally accepted by 10 Downing Street in London. He is likely to be the first foreign leader to visit New Delhi after the Covid-19 pandemic swept India and the UK as well as the rest of the world.

The United States President Donald Trump and Myanmar President U Win Myint were the last foreign leaders to visit India. Trump was in Ahmedabad and New Delhi on February 24 and 25. Myint visited New Delhi on February 27. With shutdowns and restrictions on international travels imposed to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, most of the world leaders switched to video-conference to hold bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral meetings with counterparts, instead of embarking on 'in-person' visits.

Modi and Johnson last Friday spoke to each other over phone and reviewed bilateral cooperation in the area of development and manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccines. They reiterated their shared desire to impart a quantum jump to the India-UK partnership in the post-Covid, post-BREXIT era, and agreed that there is tremendous potential for enhancing collaboration in trade and investment, scientific research, mobility of professionals and students, and defence and security, the Ministry of External Affairs stated.

Sources in New Delhi said that Modi had discussed with Johnson the proposed visit of the UK PM during the phone-call. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla also discussed the proposal for the UK PM’s visit to New Delhi when he had recently met Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Philip Barton, during his recent visit to London.

The Modi Government hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as the Chief Guest on the occasion of the Republic Day on January 26 this year.

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rab Butler was the first dignitary from the UK to attend the Republic Day ceremony of India. He had witnessed the ceremony on the Rajpath in New Delhi in 1956. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth of the UK were the chief guests in 1959 and 1961 respectively. The UK Chief of Defence Staff, Lord Louis Mountbatten, had been invited as the R-Day Chief Guest in 1964. British Prime Minister John Major was the last UK dignitary to witness the military parade on the occasion of the Republic Day. He came in 1993.