New Delhi: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is on a two-day visit to India will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to hold in-depth talks on the UK and India’s strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering close partnership and stepping up security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Boris Johnson reached Delhi late on Thursday night, where Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar received him at the Airport.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will begin the day by attending a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan and later a wreath-laying at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat.
During Boris Johnson’s visit, UK and Indian businesses are going to confirm more than 1 billion pounds in new investments and export deals today in areas from software engineering to health, creating almost 11,000 jobs across the UK, the British High Commission said in the statement.
The investment agenda includes a new Switch Mobility electric bus R&D centre in the UK and the opening of their Asia Pacific Headquarters in Chennai, generating over 1,000 jobs in the UK in India, besides investment from leading Indian manufacturer Bharat Forge and electric truck maker Tevva Motors to expand to a new site in the south-east and create 500 new jobs and Indian software company Mastek investing 79 million pounds to create 1600 jobs over the next three years all over the UK, added the British High Commission in the statement.
The deals also include business consultancy FirstSource opening new offices in South Wales, the Midlands and cities in the North-East and North-West, Hertfordshire-based firm Smith & Nephew agreeing for a major export deal to sell robotic surgical systems in India, and Northamptonshire business Scott Bader opening a new resins factory to supply top renewable energy companies in south-east Asia, stated the British High Commission.
According to a statement by British High Commission, Prime Minister Johnson will use the visit to drive progress in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched earlier this year as a deal with India is predicted to boost UK’s total trade by up to 28 billion pounds annually by 2035 and increase incomes across the UK by up to 3 billion pounds.
