If Johnson accepts the invite, he would become the first British prime minister to grace the parade at Rajpath in nearly three decades
File image of Boris Johnson. AP
India has invited UK prime minister Boris Johnson to be the chief guest for its 2021 Republic Day, according to several media reports.
The Hindu, quoting a diplomatic source, reported that the invite was extended on 27 November during a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Johnson.
However, there was no confirmation from the British High Commission on this with officials reportedly saying that Johnson was keen to visit India as soon as possible.
The Hindu further quoted diplomatic sources as saying that a decision is awaited on this from London.
Johnson, on his part, invited Modi to the G-7 summit in the United Kingdom next year, people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times.
As per a report in DNA, the telephonic talks focussed on the COVID-19
pandemic, climate change, and other related issues.
Reports of the invite came on the same day the UK became the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, with the roll-out set to begin early next week.
If Johnson accepts the invite, he would become the first British prime minister to grace the parade at Rajpath in nearly three decades.
The last UK premier to be the chief guest at the 26 January parade was John Major in 1993.
In 2020, India had invited Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
With inputs from PTI
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