Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson felt PM Modi’s ‘curious astral energy’ during first meeting
Indian PM Modi and ex-UK PM Boris Johnson
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson felt Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “curious astral energy” when they met for the first time in London. In his memoir, Johnson recalls how he was told in 2012 by the then UK government to avoid meeting with the then-chief minister of Gujarat state because “he was a Hindu nationalist”. But the meeting finally happened a few years later, PM Modi “raised my arm and chanted something in Hindi, and I felt his curious astral energy”, Johnson wrote in his book “Unleashed”.
Johnson’s India visit in April 2022
Boris Johnson also revisited his April 2022 visit to India, made just after Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine. In a trip that Boris described as ‘successful,’ he encouraged India to wean itself off Russian energy and defence and align its policies on Ukraine with the West.
When he landed in India, he received a reception “like an orchestrated orgy of state-sponsored Beatlemania.” He further wrote how he understood why India dragged its feet over taking measures against Russia and the historical context behind it.
“But I wondered if it was not time for a modulation, a rethink. Did India really want to be aligned with this pair of autocracies,” Johnson wrote.
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Johnson also pointed out to Indian officials how his first serve at tennis was ‘more accurate than the Russian missiles.’ “Russian missiles were turning out to be less accurate statistically”.
“Did they really want to keep Russia as their main supplier of military hardware?” he said.
“Overcoming the qualms of the MoD, who are always worried about India’s closeness to Russia, we agreed to work together on all kinds of military technology, from submarines to helicopters to marine propulsion units,” he wrote.
He also recalled his talks with Queen Elizabeth in September 2022 over India’s support to Russia.
As per Johnson, Elizabeth told him what the first PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, told her in the 1950s. ‘He told me that India will always side with Russia, and that some things will never change. They just are,’” he quoted the Queen as saying.
(With inputs from agencies)