Boris Johnson was embroiled in controversy on the first morning of his long-awaited diplomatic visit to India following the opening of a new JCB factory, a day after the company’s machines were bulldozed into Muslim homes and businesses in Delhi.
JCB is owned by Lord Bamford, who is close to the Prime Minister and supported his candidacy for Conservative leadership in 2019. Through his business interests, he has also donated at least £ 10 million in cash and gifts to Conservatives since 2001. .
On Thursday, civil society activists and members of the Indian public accused the executed Mr Johnson of making an untimely visit to the plant in Gujarat, the home state of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister.
Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, said: “People working in Boris Johnson’s office are clearly unaware of the big human rights dispute over the use of JCB machines in bulldozing Muslim homes. and businesses in states run by Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party [BJP] and in the capital of India.
“The opening of a factory that produces machines believed to be aimed at Muslims on Mr Modi’s orders does not create a good image for Mr Johnson or the United Kingdom in India.
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