Boris Johnson: UK PM in India seeking ‘billion-pound’ trade deals

'In-depth talks' with Narendra Modi on Friday will focus on bilateral ties, defence, and diplomatic and economic partnership

The two leaders shake hands before meeting to discuss free trade deals and enhanced security co-operation. AFP

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi bond before their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. AFP

Narendra Modi arrives to address a joint press briefing with his Boris Johnson at Hyderabad House. Reuters

Boris Johnson is on a two-day visit to India. Getty Images

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a joint statement with Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson after an exchange of agreements in New Delhi. EPA

Boris Johnson makes his point after talks with Narendra Modi focused on economic and political ties between Britain and India. EPA

Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi agreed on a new security deal in India. EPA

Boris Johnson visits Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Raj Ghat in New Delhi. Getty Images

Boris Johnson pays his respects at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. Getty Images

The British prime minister lays a wreath at the memorial in Raj Ghat. Getty Images

Boris Johnson inspects a guard of honour during a ceremonial reception at presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Getty Images

Boris Johnson introduces his dignitaries to Narendra Modi. Getty Images

Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi discussed new collaborations on defence and green energy, with the UK leader seeking to reduce India's dependence on Russian fossil fuels and military equipment. Getty Images

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson inspects a joint military guard of honour at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi. AP Photo

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at Sarda Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India. Getty Images

Boris Johnson is shown how to operate a spinning wheel at the Sabarmati Ashram, also known as Gandhi Ashram, in Ahmedabad. Getty Images

Boris Johnson garlands a bust of Mahatma Gandhi on the first day of his official trip to India. Getty Images

The British prime minister browses a book during his visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. AFP

Boris Johnson is shown a painting of Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad. AFP

Boris Johnson signs a visitors' book at the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad. AFP

Boris Johnson receives a book from the chief minister of India's Gujarat state Bhupendra Patel. PA

Boris Johnson boards an Indian military Chinook helicopter for a flight to the new JCB factory at Vadodara in India's Gujarat state. Reuters

Boris Johnson waves from a digger at JCB's new factory in Vadodara, Gujarat, during his two-day trip to India. PA

Boris Johnson meets workers at the JCB factory in Vadodara. AP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday on a two-day visit to bolster ties between the two countries and line up a free trade deal.

Mr Johnson and a 70-member British delegation were received by the head of the western Gujarat state — the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and began a tour of Ahmedabad city, a major commercial hub known as the “Manchester of India” for its cotton-textile industry. It is also the ancestral home of about half of the Indian-heritage population in Britain.

The trip is his first to India as prime minister and the first by a British leader to Gujarat, which has also hosted the heads of state of China, Japan, Israel, and most recently the former US president Donald Trump in 2020.

Mr Johnson was greeted by traditional dance performances and sounds of drums and carnival puppets outside the airport as hundreds of people gathered waving British and Indian flags.

Mr Johnson, who is embroiled in the “partygate” controversy at home after attending gatherings in breach of coronavirus lockdown rules, waved at the boisterous crowd as he made his way to his hotel, passing several large posters welcoming him to the city.

First up on the list of destinations was the Sabarmati ashram, one of Mahatma Gandhi’s homes, where Mr Johnson received two books as gifts, including an unpublished guide written by the revered independence movement leader on how to live in London.

The British prime minister also tried his hand at the spinning wheel called the ‘charkha’, which became a symbol of the campaign for Indian independence.

In a message in the visitors’ diary, Mr Johnson wrote: “It is an immense privilege to come to the ashram of this extraordinary man, and to understand how he mobilised the simple principles of truth and non-violence to change the world for the better.”

Mr Johnson then met Gautam Adani, India’s richest man and chairman of the Adani Group, and the two discussed climate and sustainability, new energy, defence and aerospace technology.

He also squeezed in time in a jam-packed schedule to inaugurate a new centre for excavator manufacturer JCB near Vadodara city. The company’s chairman Lord Bamford backed Mr Johnson’s Conservative leadership bid in 2019.

Before his visit to India, Mr Johnson announced an array of commercial agreements and collaborations, trade and investments worth £1 billion ($1.30bn).

India is the second largest FDI investor in the UK. Its exports to the UK stood at $8.15 billion in 2020-21, while imports totalled $4.95bn.

Since Britain’s departure from the European Union in January 2020, London has sought free trade agreements (FTAs), especially with countries in the Asia-Pacific region that has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

London has also been negotiating a FTA with India aimed at increasing bilateral trade to more than $100 billion by 2030.

Mr Johnson told British journalists that the countries expected to finalise the FTA by “autumn” and he was hopeful that the investments through the agreement would create 11,000 jobs in the UK.

“What we're focusing on today is the incredible opportunities to deepen this partnership … we've got about a billion pounds worth of investment coming from India into the UK,” Mr Johnson told the BBC.

“They're the second-biggest investor in the UK, that investment alone is going to drive 11,000 jobs. We're hoping to complete another free trade agreement with India by the end of the year, by the autumn,” he added.

Mr Johnson is the latest high-ranking dignitary to visit India after a slew of Western diplomats visited New Delhi as the South Asian country walks a tightrope of diplomacy over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the British leader said that the UK understands New Delhi’s historic relationship with Moscow and wants the two democracies “to stick together” despite differences over Russia’s actions, because of the growth potential in the Indo-Pacific region which is dominated by “autocracies” — an apparent reference to China.

New Delhi has refused to criticise Moscow, its biggest arms supplier, and the two countries have increased energy trade, much to the dismay of western countries which have imposed economic sanctions on Russia.

“As you know the UK is making an Indo-Pacific tilt in our integrated review of our national defence and security strategy. That's the right thing to do given the huge portion of the … growth of the world economy that can be found in this area,”

“India and the UK both share anxieties about autocracies around the world. We're both democracies, and we want to stick together,” he said.

Mr Johnson will leave for the capital, New Delhi, in the evening where he will hold “in-depth talks” with Mr Modi and India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on bilateral ties, defence, and diplomatic and economic partnership on Friday.