'Felt His Curious Astral Energy': Former UK PM Boris Johnson On First Meeting With PM Modi

In his new memoir ‘Unleashed’, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recalled a “curious astral energy” that he felt on his very first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is all praise for the “change-maker” in the book, in which he has devoted a whole chapter to India-UK ties calling it “a relationship as good as it has ever been”.

“For some reason, we went down to stand in the dark in the plaza by Tower Bridge, in front of a crowd of his supporters,” he shares in the chapter titled ‘Britain and India’, talking about the meeting with Modi during a visit to his City Hall office by the Thames River when he was London mayor.

“He raised my arm and chanted something or other in Hindi, and though I couldn’t follow it I felt his curious astral energy. I have enjoyed his company ever since – because I reckon he is the change-maker our relationship needs. With Modi, I felt sure, we could not only do a great free-trade deal but also build a long-term partnership, as friends and equals,” he writes.

In the memoir, which hit the shelves this week, he reflects upon his eventful political career. About India and UK, he has repeatedly stressed at the strength of the relationship in context of the Indo-Pacific.

Johnson wanted to make ‘gentle point to Narendra’ on Russia relations

In his book, Johnson claims he had also wanted to use the visit to make a “gentle point to Narendra” on the issue of relations with Russia at a “global inflection point” with its conflict with Ukraine.

He writes: “I knew all the history and the sensitivities, the reasons for India’s post-war non-alignment with the West, the seemingly unbreakable relationship with Moscow. I understand the Indian dependence – like China’s – on Russian hydrocarbons.”

“But I wondered if it was not time for a modulation, a rethink… As I was to put it to the Indians, Russian missiles were turning out to be less accurate, statistically, than my first serve at tennis. Did they really want to keep Russia as their main supplier of military hardware?” he adds.

It is in this context that in another section of the book, where he showers the late Queen Elizabeth II with effusive praise for her deep personal knowledge of history and history-makers, he references his efforts to get India to take a “tougher line” with Russians.

“She remembered something the former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had 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.’ I cite that as an illustration of her amazing ability to reassure and to contextualise,” he shares, with reference to his customary weekly audiences with the late monarch as PM.

Johnson credits self for start of ‘proper free-trade deal’ with India

Johnson credits himself for setting the course for a “proper free-trade deal” with India thanks to finding “exactly the partner and friend” needed with Modi. He reveals how a “distinctly sniffy” UK Foreign Office had warned him off meeting the “Hindu nationalist” leader during an earlier mayoral trade delegation to India in 2012, a problem “soon dropped” to pave the way for a relationship that “hit an all-time high”.

He asserts how much he loves India, being a “veteran” of many Indian weddings because his children with Sikh heritage ex-wife Marina Wheeler trace their roots to the country. The “tremendous success” of his visit to India as PM in January 2022 he recalls as a much-needed “morale boost” and “balm for the soul” away from an increasingly belligerent domestic politics that would eventually end in his unceremonious exit from 10 Downing Street just a few months later.

The former PM goes on to credit himself with injecting a broader vision for the India-UK partnership to go beyond trade and climate change and educational partnerships and embark on a whole programme of military and technological collaboration.

“Overcoming the qualms of the MoD (ministry of defence), 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 writes.

(With PTI inputs)