World News: UK’s Johnson to leave home woes behind in visit to India – Gulf Digital News

World News: UK’s Johnson to leave home woes behind in visit to India – Gulf Digital News

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will seek to put his domestic problems behind him when he visits India this week on a trip to strengthen links between the two countries which have not seen eye to eye over the response to the Ukraine crisis.

Johnson will head to India on Thursday with calls for his resignation ringing in his ears after he was fined for breaking his own Covid-19 lockdown rules by attending a birthday party for him in Downing Street in June 2020.

Parliament returns from its Easter vacation on Tuesday and Johnson has said he would "set the record straight" about gatherings in his office. He had previously told lawmakers there were no parties and guidance was always followed.

In details released late on Saturday, Johnson's office said the British leader would use his trip to India to deepen relations, including in-depth talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mod on the two nations' "strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership".

He will also push for progress in talks on a free trade deal, which Britain is hoping to strike as part of its post-Brexit strategy. His office said such a trade deal was predicted to boost Britain's total trade by up to 28