In an interview with "Times Now" during his visit to India
Boris Johnson: Britain seeks cooperation with India to exploit wind energy
Johnson: "The Tripartite Security Agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (Ocos) is an example of how the United Kingdom wants to work with friends and partners in the Indo-Pacific, but I emphasize that it is not an economic alliance."
During his visit to India, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to the Indian newspaper “Times Now” about the good relations between his country and India, as the largest democracy in the world, and the alliances formed to confront China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region, and about British and Indian cooperation in terms of exploiting energy Wind, in the face of high energy prices, and the following are excerpts from this dialogue:
• You described relations between India and the United Kingdom as solid, ushering in a new spring of sorts. What makes your approach different from that of your predecessors?
•• This is a really important moment in this relationship.
It's a historical relationship, of course, but now it's in a much better shape, unburdened by the past.
It is about friends and partners, equality and democracies.
We are now living in an age where countries have to be more self-reliant, so I support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “Made in India” approach, and we are trying to do the same in the UK.
But in a world in which we want to cooperate, it would make sense for us to work together so that we can be self-reliant as reliable partners.
• Recently, some, including members of Parliament in Britain, have questioned the quality of democracy in India. They kind of talked about it in the pulpits, what do you think about that?
•• Parliamentarians also tell me all kinds of inappropriate things, perhaps you see what they say about me in our parliament.
I don't think it is the job of one country to preach to another.
India is a wonderful country, with a population of 1.35 billion people, it is the largest democracy in the world.
Nobody can say that India is not a democracy, it is an exceptional place.
Above all, it is increasingly important in the Indo-Pacific, which is where the future of the world's growth is shaping up, which is why the UK is leaning towards the Indo-Pacific, so India's role as guardian of democratic values in this area seems even more important.
That is why we want to develop our friendship and partnership with her.
There are three areas that represent the problem the world is facing now?
It is the cost of energy, and the rise in fuel prices.
The UK and India are working together to deliver green energy solutions.
What Prime Minister Modi has done on solar energy is amazing.
We want to work together on hydrogen, and today we're making a memorandum of understanding on wind energy.
So, I have a vision for the UK and India to collaborate, to harness wind energy from the Celtic Sea to the Bay of Bengal, where the winds are blowing so hard here in India.
So, that's part of the agenda, and there's also the defense and security aspect, and there's also a lot that we can do.
• China's regional ambitions pose a challenge to India and you are well aware of this, and you and some allies have formed the Okos Pact. Do you condemn the Chinese raids and their behavior?
•• We have always condemned violations of territorial integrity, and for this reason I strongly condemn what happened in Ukraine.
I think we need to learn lessons about the behavior of authoritarian regimes.
I think the Tripartite Security Agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUCOS) is an example of how the United Kingdom wants to work with friends and partners in the Indo-Pacific, but I emphasize that it is not an economic alliance.
We want to work more intensively than ever with India.
• There is also the Quad Alliance. Do these alliances constitute a permanent weapon against Chinese expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, or do you see some as working at the expense of the other?
•• No, I think they basically work together, these alliances are about ideas and values.
And shape the kind of future we want.
We want an open and pluralistic future, where our children can realize their aspirations without state control, bullying, imprisoning them without trial, and we want a properly functioning democracy in our country?
The answer is that when you have a democracy, in the end and in the long run, you will achieve great success and prosperity, and this is the message that we must continue to carry to fulfill our hopes.
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