PM Modi will have a candid discussion with UK Prime Minister Johnson about Pakistan and China

*Paromita Das

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an open conversation with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, hoping that the visiting dignitary will override long-standing vested interests in his country and usher in a new chapter in bilateral ties.
Johnson will open a factory in Gujarat tomorrow, followed by official meetings in Delhi on Friday.

During his visit, India hopes that the UK will reconsider its stance on Pakistan and China and take a position befitting a true democracy. Indian officials have been frustrated by the UK’s long-standing relationship with Pakistan’s military and its inability to call terrorism directed at India by the Islamic Republic “terrorism.” India has noted the role played by then-UK Chief of Defense Staff Gen Nick Carter in getting the Rawalpindi GCHQ involved in Afghanistan over the years, as a result of which the ISI-backed Haqqani Network, a globally designated terrorist group, now rules Kabul. General Carter will step down in November 2021. While the Indian leadership will have an open and candid discussion with Johnson about the Ukraine war, New Delhi will highlight the military alliance between Pakistan and the United Kingdom in bringing Taliban and Haqqani terrorists to power in Kabul and destroying minorities’ human rights in that country. Today, armed with sophisticated weapons left behind by withdrawing coalition forces from Afghanistan, India faces a terror threat from Pakistan, with jihadists in Jammu and Kashmir using night vision devices and M-4 assault rifles.

Despite the fact that the UK wants to convert India against Russia over Ukraine and now promotes an Indo-Pacific strategy, London prioritized trade with China and opened sensitive technologies such as 5G, nuclear, and high-speed rail in the hope of becoming the financial hub of China’s Belt-Road Initiative. The United Kingdom has been dragging its feet on relations with Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina government while supporting relations with Khaleda Zia’s opposition BNP.
New Delhi will also question the role of pro-Khalistan groups based in the United Kingdom in funding and supporting the farmers’ agitation in India against the now-rescinded farm laws. Despite Indian security agencies raising the Khalistan separatist issue with their British counterparts, the radical element was allowed to hold protests against the Modi government and raise funds in the name of activist farmers in the UK.

While the UK has been proactive in freezing the assets of Russian oligarchs in their country despite the fact that they are not facing criminal charges, London has been reading the law to India when it comes to the extradition of fugitive businessmen Vijay Malaya and Nirav Modi, who face serious criminal charges. The Modi government is hoping that the United Kingdom will be more supportive of extraditing the two Indian fugitives.

During their visit, PM Modi and PM Johnson will discuss moving bilateral trade forward through the free trade agreement (FTA) route, which has already been discussed by officials from both countries. PM Johnson has an opportunity to start a new chapter with India, but it must be a relationship of equals with no arrogance.