Chennai: Even as all eyes are on the tractor rally today, farmer unions claimed the cancellation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to India later this month was a ‘political win’ for them and a ‘diplomatic defeat’ for the government, and asserted their agitation has been receiving global support.
Johnson was scheduled to attend the Republic Day celebrations in India as Chief Guest, but the visit had to be cancelled due to the growing health crisis in the UK after a new variant of coronavirus emerged there.
“The cancellation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s India visit is a political win for farmers and a diplomatic defeat for the Modi government…political and social organisations across the world have been supporting the agitation,” Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the protesting farmer unions, said in a statement in Hindi.
The statement said the farmers have already announced a tractor protest march on 26 January and a rehearsal for it on 7 January.
“The cancellation of the UK Prime Minister’s visit because of all these efforts is surely a big victory for farmers,” the statement said.
According to a release issued by the Prime Minister’s office here on Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Johnson.
“Prime Minister Johnson reiterated his thanks for India’s invitation for him as the Chief Guest of the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations, but regretted his inability to attend in view of the changed Covid-19 context prevailing in the UK. He reiterated his keenness to visit India in the near future,” it had stated.