Amid rising cases of Coronavirus in India, the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his scheduled visit to India, informed Ministry of External Affairs. As per the latest development, India and UK will hold a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed relationship.
The Ministry in an official statement said, "In view of the worsening COVID-19 situation, it has been decided by mutual agreement that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will not visit India next week. The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship."
The British Prime Minister was expected to visit the country later this month on April 26, making it his first major bilateral foreign visit since taking power in 2019. He was initially expected in the country on January and was invited to be the Chief Guest during the Republic Day parade, but due to the rising Covid cases and deaths in the UK it was decided that the trip should be delayed.
The visit was heralded as an opportunity for Britain to refocus its international trade policy in the wake of Brexit as it pursues a "global Britain" strategy. It's aimed at strengthening bilateral trade ties, investment and cooperation in various areas including defence, security, health and climate change.
Meanwhile, India in the past 24 housr reported 2,73,810 fresh cases of COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 1,50,61,919 on Monday. As per Union Health Ministry, as many as 1,619 COVID patients lost lives in single day while, 1,44,178 were discharged in the last 24 hours. At present, there are 19,29,329 active cases of Coronavirus in the country.
ALSO READ | Rajasthan 'Lockdown' Guidelines: Check What Will Remain Open & Closed In The State From Today