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British PM Boris Johnson with PM Modi.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted India's Republic Day invite for  2021 celebrations on January 26. "I'm pleased that PM Boris Johnson has invited PM Modi to join the UK-hosted G7 summit next year. UK PM Johnson has also accepted the very generous invitation to attend India's Republic Day celebrations in January, which is a great honour," said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

 According to reports, The invite was extended during the telephonic conversation that took place between the two sides on November 27.

Downing Street announced on Tuesday that Johnson will travel to India in January 2021 to strengthen a key strategic relationship which supports jobs and investment across the UK as part of his first major bilateral visit since taking office, and the first since the UK’s departure from the EU.

An official spokesperson said the trip will kick off a significant year for ‘Global Britain’, when the UK will host both the G7 Leaders’ Meeting and COP26 Summits, as well as a global education conference aimed at getting girls into school, and an event to mark the first meeting of the UN General Assembly in London in 1946.

The UK and India are significant investors and markets for each other’s economies and our growing trade and investment relationship is worth around £24 billion a year, supporting more than half a million jobs.

There are 842 Indian companies in the UK with a combined turnover of £41.2 billion, creating jobs in all four corners of the United Kingdom.

That includes 19,500 people employed by Tata Consulting Services at sites including Peterborough, Liverpool, and Edinburgh; around 5,700 people in Warrington, Derby, Cardiff, Derry/Londonderry and Belfast working for business support firm Firstsource Solutions – which is soon to open a new office in Middlesbrough; and 1,200 people employed by Accord Healthcare Ltd in Newcastle and Barnstaple to manufacture and supply medicines to the NHS.