Tory leader Boris Johnson’s strong connection with India

With Boris Johnson being declared the Conservative party leader and the next British Prime Minister, its interesting to know that he has a strong connection with India.

Johnson’s estranged wife Marina Wheeler is half-Indian, which meant that Johnson had travelled a lot to India with Wheeler to visit her family in Delhi and Mumbai throughout their marriage.

Commenting on the plentiful number of visits, journalist Rahul Singh, the late Khushwant Singh’s son, commented in Times of India, “I can’t think of any other British prime minister who has had such a strong Indian connection.”

Speaking on the potentially good relations that could sprout from Johnson’s benign relationship with India, Singh said, “If Boris becomes PM, it will be good for UK-India relations. I think he will bring out policies favourable to India. Behind his jolly, outrageous manner is a very sharp mind at work. I think he has the right sensibilities to get on with the Indian government. He loves India, and knows India pretty well through his marriage. The children seem to be very comfortable with their Indian cousins, whom they meet often. Marina must have been a great asset to Boris in his political ascent to foreign secretary and, perhaps, now as prime minister.”

Singh then spoke on his personal experience Johnson, noting, “Boris has visited India often for weddings in Marina’s family. I met him, Marina and three of their children in Delhi last when they went to the Rathambore Tiger Reserve. There was a family gathering in Dehli. He knew all of Marina’s relatives’ first names, of which there were about 15. He ate Indian food, which he loves, was drinking beer and fits into Indian culture. He is totally at home in India, and Indian business people like him. He said to me that because he was married to someone half Sikh, all the Sikhs in Britain would vote for him.”

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By Arjen Gill