Boris Johnson confuses farmers’ protest with Indo-Pak dispute, gets mocked online

“Will the Prime Minister (Johnson) convey to the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and does he agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest,” he questioned Johnson.

However, Johnson in his brief response went on to talk about a completely unrelated issue of the India-Pakistan conflict.

“Our view is that of course, we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point,” said Johnson.

In a video, Dhesi, who has been a vocal supporter of the farmers and initiated a letter pledging support for the protests, looked perplexed at Johnson’s response. He later took to Twitter to criticise the prime minister.

“It might help if our PM actually knew what he was talking about,” he wrote.

Johnson’s response also prompted anger and jokes on social media. Take a look at some of the reactions here:

https://twitter.com/BiggBossLov/status/1336700760638164992

https://twitter.com/raj_nagpal/status/1336732473401757698

https://twitter.com/SueC00K/status/1336749111182303233

According to reports, a spokesperson from the UK government later clarified and said that the Prime Minister had “misheard” the question.

“The prime minister clearly misheard the question in parliament today,” the spokesperson told the channel. “The Foreign Office are [is] following the issue of protests in India closely.”

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and several other states have been protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of the three farm laws enacted in September. (Follow LIVE UPDATES here)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had earlier extended his support to the protesting farmers, prompting criticism from India. The UK government has refused to be drawn into the ongoing protests in India, with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) saying the matter of handling protests was an internal one

(With inputs from PTI)

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