Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to postpone his UK visit planned for early-2015 to sometime after the British parliamentary elections in May. Modi was earlier expected to visit London towards the end of January to unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of the Father of Nation.
However, as US President Barack Obama is visiting Delhi on January 25-26, there is little time left to prepare for a PM trip to the UK in the same month, officials said. The two governments were also looking at the possibility of Modi visiting London around April next year. That too is unlikely. Modi is visiting Germany in the last week of April, and squeezing in a trip to UK would not be possible due to elections there in May, sources pointed out. The PM, though, may visit some other countries in Europe along with Germany, they said. The schedule has not yet been fixed.
Also, one of the views within the government and ruling BJP is that the PM should travel to the UK only after the election results become clear, sources said. The David Cameron government in Britain has been keen to host Modi since he was elected as the Indian PM in May. The past seven-month period has seen nearly 15 UK Ministers, including Deputy PM Nick Clegg, travelling to India to engage with the Modi government.
The two PMs first met in Brisbane in November, on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Senior Ministers of the British government will also travel to Gujarat for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas followed by the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
