Indian-origin peer Lord Karan Bilimoria revealed the King’s desire to visit India, ahead of Britain’s King Charles III Coronation ceremony in London.

Karan Bilimoria said, “Britain’s King Charles III has said that he would love to go to India on a State Visit and it should be planned soon”.

Lord Bilimoria said he had the opportunity to raise the topic of India-UK ties and request the 74-year-old King to consider a visit to India.

On Tuesday, at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament complex, during an interaction with a group of parliamentarians as part of a special pre-Coronation reception, Mr. Bilimoria said, “I said to His Majesty [King Charles] that we must have a State Visit to India because it would have an enormous impact on bilateral relations and help turbocharge the UK-India FTA negotiations”.

He believes a State Visit by the King would help turbocharge bilateral relations and also the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

The founder of Cobra Beer, Karan Bilimoria said, “We know that the King is a friend of India and has a great fondness for the country. He said he would love to go to India on a State Visit and that we should plan it soon”.

The UK-based entrepreneur, also an ardent advocate for closer India-UK ties who helped create the UK India Industry Taskforce last year, believes that a visit to India by Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister would bring much-needed momentum to the relationship.

In 2019, King last visited India. At that time he was Prince of Wales and also celebrated his 71st birthday while in Mumbai.

The entrepreneur stated, “Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must soon lead a jumbo jet-packed delegation to India, which is long overdue. The last prime ministerial delegation from the UK to India was in 2016, which is quite a gap. It would be just the ticket to celebrate the diaspora living bridge and push forward the relationship”.

(With input from PTI)

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