British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday cancelled his planned trip to India to be the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations, stating that it was important for him to remain in the United Kingdom to focus on the domestic response to COVID-19 in the wake of speed at which new coronavirus variant was spreading.
A Downing Street spokesperson said that Johnson spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning and expressed his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month.
"The prime minister spoke to Prime Minister Modi this morning to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned," the spokesperson said.
"In light of the national lockdown announced last night, and the speed at which the new coronavirus variant is spreading, the Prime Minister (Johnson) said that it was important for him to remain in the UK so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus," the spokesperson added.
The cancellation of the visit was announced a day after Prime Minister Johnson imposed the third lockdown in the UK amid rising coronavirus cases in the country. The new variant of COVID-19 was first found in the United Kingdom.
The UK has reported more than two million COVID-19 cases and 70,000 deaths linked to the disease.
India had invited the UK Prime Minister to be the chief guest at Republic Day parade later this month.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who visited India in December, had announced that Johnson has accepted the invitation to visit India.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor