India looks forward to welcoming UK PM for Republic Day celebrations: MEA

New Delhi [India], December 24 : India is looking forward to welcoming United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson for Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year, said Anurag Srivastava, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson on Thursday.
"When UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was here last week, he had publicly confirmed the Prime Minister's acceptance to come to India on the Republic Day next year. So we look forward to welcoming the PM here," Srivastava said while replying to a question if the British Prime Minister's visit to India is on schedule despite the restrictions after a new coronavirus strain was detected in the UK.
On December 15, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had confirmed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be attending India's Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2021 as the chief guest, adding that it is symbolic of a new era of India-UK ties.
The External Affairs Minister (EAM) had said, "It would be in a way symbolic of a new era, a new phase of our relationship, it will also really drive us to put in place a lot of mechanisms, platforms that would realise the kind of expectations that both Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Johnson have of the relationship and which they have discussed with each other."
"The UK is a very important partner for us, whether it is on global issues, whether it is multilateral organisations. We certainly expect a much closer working together in international organisation and platforms and on global issues," Jaishankar had said.
Meanwhile, several countries including India have banned all travel from the UK following the discovery of the more transmissible strain of COVID-19, which has been reported to have caused a spike in infections in London and southeast England.