BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson will offer to help India cut reliance on Russian oil and defence equipment when he begins a two-day visit this week that will test his diplomatic skills and provide brief respite from a row raging at home.
On his first trip to India as prime minister, starting on Thursday (21), Johnson will discuss strengthening security co-operation in meetings with prime minister Narendra Modi, a spokesperson for the British leader said.
The prime minister will not seek to “lecture” his Indian counterpart, despite concerns within government that Modi has not been strong enough in condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine, reported The Independent.
At Tuesday’s (19) Cabinet meeting, Johnson told ministers the UK had a “deep and long-lasting partnership” with India which he would seek to expand.
"The UK would continue to work with other countries to provide alternative options for defence procurement and energy for India to diversify supply chains away from Russia”, the prime minister was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Narendra Modi withBoris Johnson
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Western allies have called for India to speak out against the war. India, which is the world's biggest buyer of Russia's weapons and imports its oil, abstained in a UN vote condemning the invasion and has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.
Modi has expressed concern over the killings of civilians.
US president Joe Biden told Modi earlier this month that buying more oil from Russia was not in India's interest.
Uday Bhaskar, a director at the Society For Policy Studies in New Delhi, said the Indian government would listen carefully to Johnson's message if it was made respectfully, but there was little Britain could do in practice to replace Russia as a strategic ally.
"The problem is Britain can't solve India's dependence on Russia. It doesn't have enough oil or the right type of military equipment to sell," Bhaskar said.
Even though India has grown closer to the West in recent years, the country still depends on Russia for more than half its supply of weapons amid a Himalayan border standoff with China and perennial tensions with Pakistan.
Johnson will arrive in India with an eye still on matters in London where he has been accused of deliberately misleading parliament about parties in Downing Street that broke his own coronavirus lockdown restrictions. He will miss a vote on Thursday (21) over whether he should be referred to a parliamentary investigation.
Gujarat first stop
Johnson's trip begins in Modi's home state of Gujarat, where he is expected to announce investment and new collaboration in science, health and technology.The British government said this would be the first time a British prime minister has visited the sprawling coastal state famed for its spirit of entrepreneurship and the ancestral home to about half of the British-Indian population.
From there, Johnson will visit New Delhi for talks on Friday (22) with Modi, where the two leaders will discuss a new defence partnership and a free trade agreement which the two countries began discussing at the start of the year.
Britain was India's third largest trading partner at the start of this century, but slipped to 17th last year, India government figures show. India's biggest trading partners are the US, China and the United Arab Emirates.
India's longstanding demand for easier access to British visas for students and skilled workers in any trade talks will also prove politically difficult for the British government.
Unlike on recent British prime ministerial trips to India, there will not be a large accompanying business delegation, emphasising that the focus for this trip is around politics.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)