Updated: December 15, 2020 8:34:13 pm
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (archive)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be the main guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January 2021, confirmed British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Raab made the announcement after his meeting with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday. He arrived in India on a bilateral visit on Monday night.
The Indian Express had previously reported on Johnson being approached India through informal channels.
Stating that Boris Johnson’s presence during the Republic Day celebrations is “a symbol of a new phase between India and the United Kingdom,” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said: “I am pleased that the first Minister Boris Johnson has invited Prime Minister Modi to join the UK. He hosted the G7 summit next year. British Prime Minister Johnson also accepted the generous invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations in January, which is a great honor. The presence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the main guest on Republic Day 2021 would be in some ways a symbol of a new era, a new phase of our relationship. “
Johnson is the sixth from the UK to be the main guest on Republic Day. He will also be the first British Prime Minister since John Major in 1993 to be the main guest of the celebrations. In the past, members of British royalty have been key guests: Prince Philip in 1959 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1961. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rap Butler (1956, along with former President of the Supreme Court of Japan, Kotaro Tanaka ) and then Chief of Defense Staff Lord Louis Mountbatten (1964) have also been main guests in the past.
This time, however, India may have a truncated version of the Republic Day celebrations due to the pandemic, like the scaled-down version of the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.
An invitation to be Main guest of Republic Day it is symbolic from the perspective of the Indian government. New Delhi has been weaving strategy with hospitality to decide its main guest. Each year, the choice is determined by a number of factors: strategic and diplomatic, business interests and geopolitics.
The UK’s choice is interesting, as ties to the UK after Brexit will be tested on multiple fronts – economic, people-to-people, political and strategic. Both sides will be willing to compromise with each other, and Delhi will want to take advantage of its relationship with the EU, while dealing with the UK, especially on economic ties.
Raab, who is one of the few foreign ministers to visit India during the COVID-19 pandemic, will also travel to Bangalore. He will be in India from December 14 to 17. He will also have official meetings with the Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, and the Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Raab’s visit “will pave the way for a further strengthening of the partnership in the sectors of trade, defense, climate, migration and mobility, education and health in the post-Covid, post-Brexit context” .
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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