Boris Johnson says the countries could persuade China to pressure Pyongyang

Britain hopes to work with India to exercise influence over China on North Korea, the country’s Foreign Secretary has said. Speaking at a 70th Independence Day event in London on Tuesday evening, Boris Johnson expressed his hope that the two allies could work together to “persuade our friends in China of the truth... it’s in the Chinese government’s hands to exercise that economic pressure to achieve the diplomatic resolution that we need,” he said.

“Never mind what you are hearing from the White House... let’s focus on the real cause of the current crisis, when North Korea is recklessly and wantonly threatening its neighbours and those further afield with nuclear strikes.”

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with India in our determination to ensure stability in the Asia Pacific region... In all those efforts to secure peace and security, the indispensable foundation of trade and prosperity... we are working ever more closely with India.”

More than trade

“This relationship is about so much more than trade and so much more than... the interchange of goods and services. It’s about the things that make the trade happen and at a time when the world is full of promise and full of threats and when global trade has actually been declining as a share of global growth, our relationship with India is about the safety, security and freedom that make that trade possible... We are shoulder to shoulder with India in tackling the threat of extremism and terrorism.”

Mr. Johnson’s remarks mark a shift away in Britain from rhetoric focussed largely on trade cooperation with India in the wake of the Brexit referendum to a more holistic discussion of the relationship.

Senior figures in India have expressed their concerns about the focus on boosting trade. Last year, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the BBC that India was no longer being treated as “old friends” but that relationship had become a tight “tight professional engagement.”

Y.K. Sinha, India’s envoy to the U.K., said in June: “India must be recognised as bearing the brunt of this for decades. ..if this isn’t recognised, bilateral cooperation will not be a success.”

Mr. Johnson also acknowledged factors that stood in the way of greater cooperation, including over visas, and student visas in particular. “We have to get the visa system right,” he said adding that he hoped India too would recognise Britain’s ambitions for increased access to good and services markets in India.

High Commissioner Sinha said he hoped the countries would continue to increase cooperation on intelligence sharing when it came to combating terrorism.