What’s on the agenda as UK’s Boris Johnson visits India?

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes to entice India in direction of the West and wean the nation off its dependence on Russian oil and arms because the struggle in Ukraine rages on.

Johnson arrived in India on Thursday, starting his two-day journey in Gujarat, the house state of his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

“As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is important that democracies and buddies stick collectively,” Johnson informed reporters previous to his long-awaited trip to the South Asia nation.

Boris Johnson in India
Johnson scatters rose petals on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad [Ben Stansall/Reuters]

Modi has expressed concern concerning the Ukraine struggle and urged an finish to it. However New Delhi’s reluctance to sentence its Chilly Struggle ally Moscow on the worldwide stage has led Western leaders to foyer India to alter its stance.

India’s high oil agency, the Indian Oil Company, bought 3 million barrels of crude from Russia in March. Final week, US President Joe Biden requested Modi to not enhance purchases of Russian oil.

New Delhi has made no agency commitments to Biden, and Indian international minister S Jaishankar highlighted Europe’s dependency on Russian oil.

“In all probability our whole purchases for the month could be lower than what Europe does in a day,” Jaishankar mentioned at a information convention in Washington, DC, final week.

Russia additionally stays India’s key defence companion, with the Kremlin exporting arms worth $6.6bn to New Delhi between 2016 and 2020.

Johnson’s spokesperson harassed that the British chief had no plans to “lecture” Modi on the matter however would talk about strengthening safety cooperation with India by providing different choices for defence procurement and vitality.

Vivek Mishra, a fellow on the Observer Analysis Basis think-tank (ORF) in New Delhi, says Ukraine will determine tangentially in Johnson’s talks with the Indian leaders.

“I don’t suppose the UK will strive too laborious to steer India to align with the West in isolating anybody nation. I believe India’s place on isolation is kind of clear,” he informed Al Jazeera.

Boris Johnson in India
Johnson spins khadi on a charkha (spinning wheel) throughout his go to to the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad [Ben Stansall/Reuters]

Michael Kugelman, senior fellow for South Asia on the Wilson Middle in Washington, DC, shared the same view.

“Nobody has succeeded in getting India to alter its place on Russia and Johnson gained’t both. New Delhi’s place is kind of immutable,” he informed Al Jazeera.

“What we are able to anticipate is for Johnson, like different like-minded Western leaders, to name for India to ease up on its commerce with Russia. However the message can be delivered as a pitch, not an ultimatum.”

Anil Trigunayat, former Indian ambassador to Malta, Jordan and Libya, informed Al Jazeera India may additionally use this assembly to grasp UK’s stance on China and Pakistan – India’s two essential rivals.

Bolstering commerce and funding

Moreover geopolitics, commerce and funding bulletins are a key precedence for Johnson, as he tries to bolster post-Brexit Britain’s ties with India.

Starting his go to from the enterprising metropolis of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Johnson’s workplace mentioned in a statement that UK and Indian companies will verify greater than a billion British kilos ($1.3bn) in new investments and export offers in areas from software program engineering to well being, creating virtually 11,000 jobs throughout Britain.

Boris Johnson in India
The message written by Johnson within the Gandhi Ashram’s visitor ebook, Ahmedabad [Amit Dave/Reuters]

Collaborations within the science and expertise sector are additionally on the agenda, with the UK seeking to verify a Digital Well being partnership via a joint funding fund for Indian deep-tech and AI start-ups, new AI scholarships for Indian college students collectively funded by the UK authorities’s Chevening programme and India’s Adani Group, and a 6 million British level ($7.8m) funding from AI healthcare specialists, Qure-ai.

“For India and post-Brexit UK, the finalisation of a Free Commerce Settlement (FTA), enhanced maritime cooperation and a powerful partnership within the Indo-Pacific is essential,” ORF’s Mishra informed Al Jazeera.

“As such, either side would need that this go to critiques their commerce and funding progress and charts a course for a greater realisation of the Roadmap 2030, which the 2 international locations agreed to in Might final yr,” he added.

In Might 2021, India and UK laid out a roadmap looking for to revitalise their commerce, funding and technological collaborations and bolster defence and safety cooperation within the Indo-Pacific area. This roadmap is predicted to be fine-tuned after Johnson’s assembly with Modi in New Delhi on Friday, the place extra bulletins about the way forward for FTAs are additionally on the agenda.

“Since Brexit, the UK has been eager to have a complete commerce take care of India. Whereas that’s probably, what its contours appear to be as India additionally enhances its financial engagement with Russia is but to be seen,” ambassador Trigunayat informed Al Jazeera.

Inside points to be addressed?

Amid enterprise and world safety discussions, Johnson’s assembly with Modi comes amid the “Partygate” scandal within the UK and violence against Muslims in India.

However ORF’s Mishra thinks Johnson wouldn’t need to delve into India’s inside points.

“Johnson himself has a lot to reply for the ‘Partygate’ scandal again house. Quite the opposite, his stress on frequent values, commerce, defence, Indo-Pacific and meals safety tells me that the agenda is kind of severe on making bilateral deliverables depend in the course of the go to,” he informed Al Jazeera.

Kugelman echoed the same view and highlighted that Modi, like Johnson, would additionally need to set the contours of the way forward for the connection – one which’s essential for each the international locations.

“On this age of summitry and private diplomacy, any assembly of world leaders is imbued with significance. This go to is very essential as a result of it comes at a second when India and the UK are taking sharply totally different positions on the Ukraine struggle, arguably the most important geopolitical problem of the second,” he informed Al Jazeera.

“Modi might also need to examine in on diaspora points – all the time an essential matter for Delhi, particularly when coping with a rustic just like the UK with such a big Indian diaspora.”

Kugelman mentioned Johnson visiting Gujarat, Modi’s house state, is important. “This implies there’s loads at stake for Modi personally, which makes success an crucial.”

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