British PM Boris Johnson arrives in India, given grand welcome in Ahmedabad

a

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning to start his India visit, and was accorded a grand welcome along the four-km route from the airport to a hotel in the city. Johnson was received at the Ahmedabad airport by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Governor Acharya Devvrat.

Senior state officials and ministers were also present to receive him. The British prime minister was greeted by troupes performing traditional Gujarati dances and music at the airport and along the road as his convoy headed for the hotel.

The `roadshow' started outside the airport and passed through Ashram Road via Dafnala and Riverfront. As many as 40 platforms were erected at regular intervals on the four-km stretch from the Airport Circle to the five-star hotel on Ashram Road where again troupes performed traditional Indian dances to welcome Johnson.

During his day-long stay in Gujarat, the British prime minister is scheduled to have a closed-door meeting with prominent business leaders from the state, sources said. After that, he will head for a manufacturing facility of JCB, a British construction equipment firm, near Halol in Panchmahal district.

The British PM will then visit the campus of under-construction Gujarat Biotechnology University in Gandhinagar as the varsity is coming up in cooperation with the UK's University of Edinburgh, a Gujarat government release said. The British PM would visit the famous Akshardham temple of the Swaminarayan sect in Gandhinagar before winding up his Gujarat visit and leaving for New Delhi.

In Delhi, Johnson will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

(With PTI inputs)