
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will embark on his first major international trip to India after “Brexit”. He is scheduled to visit India at the end of April as a part of efforts to boost the UK’s opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Earlier the UK PM canceled a trip to India in January as the chief guest of 72nd Republic Day due to the rising Covid-19 infection in his country. Boris Johnson’s office said, “it would tilt its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region as part of its Integrated Review of government policy for the coming years, saying the area increasingly represented the geopolitical centre of the world.”
Britain made a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) last month, seeking membership of the 11-country bloc to open new avenues for post-Brexit trade and influence. It has also applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).