The now-canceled visit to India was meant to be a part of the larger post-Brexit strategy of resuming trade outside the European Union, through a diplomatic push.
Amid rising COVID-19 cases, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to cancel his visit to India which was scheduled to take place next week. Instead, a virtual call will be held between the two Prime Ministers.
“In the light of the current coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week,” a joint statement from the British and Indian government, released by Downing Street, said.
“In view of the COVID-19 situation, it has been decided by mutual agreement that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will not visit India next week. The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship.”
Ministry of External Affairs
Hours after this announcement, India was put on the ‘red list’ by Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The red list, which includes 39 other countries along with India, denies entry to anyone who has visited the listed nations in the past 10 days. This move comes as British officials have detected close to 100 cases of the variant found in India, with international travel playing a major role in helping the virus’ spread.
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The now-canceled visit to India was meant to be a part of the larger post-Brexit strategy of resuming trade outside the European Union, through a diplomatic push.
Britain has invited India to attend the G7 summit it is hosting in June and if things normalize, an in-person meeting might take place between the two leaders.
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