UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab has confirmed that Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebration on January 26, 2021. In doing so, Johnson becomes the only second UK Prime Minister to attend the event since former John Major in 1993.
The British Prime Minister is delighted and is looking forward to visiting India. "I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next year at the start of an exciting year for Global Britain, and look forward to delivering the quantum leap in our bilateral relationship that Prime Minister Modi and I have pledged to achieve," the British PM said in a statement.
The UK foreign secretary has also called this development a great honour, adding that Johnson has invited Modi to the G7 summit, which will take place next year in the UK. "I am pleased that PM Johnson has invited PM Modi to join the UK-hosted G7 summit next year. The British PM has also accepted the very generous invitation to attend India's Republic Day celebrations in January, which is a great honour," Raab said.
Union Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has stated that PM Johnson accepting India's invitation to be the Republic Day chief guest will usher in a new era in the ties between the two countries.
Earlier, there were reports that India had officially invited PM Johnson as the Republic Day chief guest.
