British PM Boris Johnson invited to be Republic Day chief guest

India has reportedly invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be the chief guest at the 2021 Republic Day celebration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the invitation to his British counterpart during a telephone conversation on November 27, multiple reports said.

If PM Johnson accepts the invitation, he’ll be the fifth British leader to be the chief guest at the January 26 event. The last leader from Britain to be the chief guest at the Republic Day event was then prime minister John Major in 1993.

Though the British High Commission has not yet confirmed the invitation, news agency ANI quoted one of its spokesperson as saying that Mr. Johnson is keen to visit India as soon as possible.

The timing of the invitation report coincides with UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19. Besides, it also comes at a time when the UK is eyeing a free-trade deal by January 1 with the European Union following its exit from the bloc earlier this year.

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During the November 27 conversation, the two prime ministers discussed key bilateral, regional and international issues, and also agreed to work towards a “quantum leap” in cooperation between India and the UK in all areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, and fighting COVID-19.

They exchanged their views on the challenges posed by the pandemic, and reviewed the promising cooperation between India and the UK in the area of vaccine development and manufacturing, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. They agreed that officials from both sides would continue their work to quickly finalise an ambitious long-term roadmap for the India-UK partnership, it said.

(With inputs from agencies)