Boris Johnson to visit India in April-end

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit India at the end of April on his first major international tour following the UK’s exit from the European Union, Downing Street has announced, as Britain seeks to "unlock" the opportunities in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

The announcement of the visit, which had been postponed from a planned Republic Day tour in January due to the escalating COVID-19 crisis in the UK, comes as Mr. Johnson launches the conclusions of the UK government’s Integrated Review of defence, security, development and foreign policy – a post-Brexit policy vision that falls within a wider Global Britain agenda. A central foreign policy shift included in the review is a definitive tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region as the “geopolitical centre of the world”, which includes the UK applying for partner status of the ASEAN economic union – of which India is a sectoral dialogue partner.