What to expect from Modi’s U.K. visit

Officials brace for protests over Gujarat riots

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in London on Thursday for a three-day visit, focused on defence and strategic ties between India and the U.K. as well as economic relations.

Deals worth a reported $18 billion are expected to be signed during the visit.

The highlight of the visit, however, is expected to be the address to Indians and NRIs at London’s Wembley stadium, with over 60,000 expected to attend.

Significantly, Mr. Modi will be introduced at Wembley by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron who will also accompany him through most of the visit, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said.

Mr. Modi’s visit to the U.K. comes days after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s crushing defeat in the Bihar elections. But the government on Tuesday announced 15 key reforms in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

“While a big win in Bihar before the Wembley event would have been amazing, there is no doubt the PM’s address will enthuse his supporters in the U.K. about opportunities in India, as he has at other such events around the world,” a BJP leader involved in the organisation of the Wembley event said.

Lunch with the Queen

The other big highlights of the visit include a lunch with Queen Elizabeth II, dinner and an overnight stay at Chequers court, the U.K. Prime Minister’s official country retreat.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Cameron will pay respects to the newly installed statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Parliament, and are expected to issue several joint statements on defence and strategic partnership, energy and climate change, development partnership; and a vision statement.

On Friday, Mr. Modi will address a CEO’s forum, where several MoUs are expected to be announced between British and Indian companies. “We want to be seen as job makers, not job takers,” Mr. Jaishankar said, while refusing to be drawn into comparisons with the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, when deals worth $62 billion were announced.

Mr. Modi will also visit the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover factory in Solihull, before leaving for Turkey on Saturday.

Officials brace for protests

However, officials have also been bracing for protests against Mr. Modi, who was virtually banned from visiting the U.K. during 2002 and 2012, over the Gujarat riots when he was the State Chief Minister.

On Sunday, activists belonging to the group Awaaz-U.K. managed to project an image of Mr. Modi with a ‘nazi-style’ swastika behind him and the slogan “Modi not welcome”.

The group also plans to raise slogans outside the British Prime Minister’s office at 10 Downing Street on Thursday. The government has also faced a number of protest motions or “early day motions”, mainly from the opposition Labour party, that called for Mr. Cameron to take up the issue of three British tourists being killed during the Gujarat riots, as well as previous ones related to Kashmir, the shutdown of Greenpeace India and on human rights. It was signed by 46 MPs including Labour leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn.

The latest motion in Parliament proposed on November 4th, which is unlikely to be taken up for debate, said Mr. Cameron should “take the opportunity presented by Prime Minister Modi's visit to the U.K. to secure answers and assistance on behalf of the families of the British men who were murdered”. It also said they are “deeply concerned that attempts to investigate the murders and bring the killers to justice have been hindered and frustrated.”

Returning the ‘Kohinoor’ diamond

An Indian group has decided to sue the U.K. for the return of the ‘Kohinoor’ diamond that is a part of Queen Elizabeth’s crown.

Officials told The Hindu that Mr. Modi is not going to take up the issue with the British Queen, as it is clear that the “U.K. policy is not to return cultural artifacts acquired during colonialism.”

In an article for the U.K.-paper the Sunday Times, Mr. Modi wrote that he hoped his visit, and the bond between India and the U.K., cemented by 1.5 million British Indians would be strengthened. “A connected history, a rich experience of collaboration, shared values, the similarity of political systems and the common faith in pluralism constitute the unshakeable foundations of our relationship,” he wrote about the visit, which comes 6 years after the last Indian Prime Minister visited.