NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of rendering an unconditional apology for 'partygate', British Prime Minister Boris Johnson embarks on his India visit from Thursday.
"My visit to India will deliver on the things that really matter to the people of both our nations – from job creation and economic growth to energy security and defence," Johnson said recently.
The focus of his visit is going to be trade, defence and security. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, in his Spring Statement, laid out a series of measures relevant for Indian companies keeping in mind PM Johnson’s India visit – which would give an impetus to expand trade and investment between India and the UK.
Indian companies secured 40 per cent of all work visas issued by the UK last year (almost as much as the rest of the world combined) and employ over 100,000 people in the UK. "This is significant for the two countries," Sunak said in his statement.
Tax relief has been extended to British companies to cover R&D conducted overseas - which could further enhance the R&D-driven investments by UK businesses in India, including the co-creation of new technology with Indian partners.
At present R&D expenditure in India is around health, defence, agriculture, industrial production and technology, space, transport and energy. All these sectors are of interest to the UK.
The UK-India FTA negotiations will be advanced with PM Johnson’s visit. Announcements are likely to be made in technology transfer in defence (specially maritime sector) and security.
Meanwhile, PM Johnson begins his India trip by landing in Ahmedabad on Thursday. He is expected to inaugurate the sixth plant of JCB in Vadodara. JCB happens to be a supporter of the Conservative Party and its chairman, Lord Bamford, came for the laying of the foundation stone of the plant in 2019. The investment for this plant was Rs 650 crore.
Johnson is also likely to meet with industrialist Gautam Adani and visit the Sabarmati Ashram.
In Delhi, he will meet with Prime Minister Modi and they are likely to make an announcement around bilateral trade and partnerships.
Ukraine will figure amongst their talks. "As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is vital that democracies and friends stick together," Johnson said, indicating that he would expect India to take a firmer stand against Russia.
Trade between India and the UK is worth an estimated £23bn each year. The two countries last year agreed on a UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which the UK government said would bring more than £533mn of investment into the
country from India and would result in the creation of more than 6,500 jobs.