British Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted his bonhomie with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and called him “khas dost – special friend” during his visit to India.
Earlier in the 2019 general elections, in which Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party swept the country, people under the banner of Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (OF-BJP) in the UK had campaigned against the Labour Party and in favour of Johnson’s party in 48 constituencies.
The British-Indian voters could swing 40 of those seats, according to Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat, the president of the UK branch of OF-BJP.
The main reason for the campaign against the Labour Party was their stance on developments in India, such as the situation in Kashmir and alleged human rights issues under the Narendra Modi government. The Indian High Commission was hit with violent protests in August and September 2019 that had the support of the British Left, with one Labour lawmaker –Liam Byrne– publicly supporting it. This was said to be among the reasons for OF-BJP’s campaign against the Labour Party.
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The High Commission was vandalised in the protests.
The OF-BJP's Shekhawat told The Times of India, “We are doing this [opposing Labour] for three reasons. Firstly, some Labour MPs joined the violent protests outside India House on August 15 and September 3. Secondly, no Labour MP spoke in favour of India in the House of Commons on Kashmir, and thirdly because of the Labour motion on Kashmir passed at their party conference.”
A campaign musical video in Hindi asking people to vote for Boris Johnson had also surfaced in 2019, which was seen at the time as being aimed at British-Indians.
While overseas supporters of BJP supported Johnson’s party, the Labour Party appeared to be close with the Congress party. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party at the time, had met a group of Congress functionaries and had criticised the Modi government on Kashmir in his comments on the meeting.
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Several leaders from left-leaning parties in the West have criticised the Modi government over Kashmir and human rights in general. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canadian leader Jagmeet Singh, and American Democrats such as Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Pramila Jayapal have spoken on issues of human rights and protests in India.
The OF-BJP’s support to the Conservative Party was not the first instance of international relationships between political parties. Most recently in 2019, former US President Barack Obama had endorsed Justin Trudeu for Canadian general elections.
In India, there were long standing relationships between leaders of Indian and Nepali political parties. Several Nepali leaders have been educated in India and the Koirala family of Nepal that has produced four Nepali prime ministers in the last seven decades has been associated with Varanasi.
