Boris Johnson likely to visit, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai during April 26 visit

New Delhi, Mar 21: There are plenty of expectations during the visit by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to New Delhi next month.

The British PM will be in India on April 26 and the focus would be on a new trade pact. Johnson is also expected to travel to Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai and Chennai as well. While he is keen on travelling to these cities, the itinerary is yet to finalised.

Johnson who had praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership was scheduled to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. He however had to postpone his visit due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in UK.

On the visit, 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.

In December Johnson had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally accept his invitation to visit India as Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade, which was to mark his first major bilateral visit since taking office in 2019 and the first since Britain's formal exit from the European Union (EU) at the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020.

"I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next year at the start of an exciting year for Global Britain, and look forward to delivering the quantum leap in our bilateral relationship that Prime Minister Modi and I have pledged to achieve," Johnson said at the time.

"As a key player in the Indo-Pacific region, India is an increasingly indispensable partner for the United Kingdom as we work to boost jobs and growth, confront shared threats to our security and protect our planet," he said.