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| - Fact Check: Was Boris Johnson the first British PM to visit Gujarat? News sites fall for faulty info
Boris Johnson was the second UK PM to visit Gujarat. In 1978, then PM James Callaghan visited Gujarat as a guest of then Indian PM Morarji Desai.
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India Today Fact Check
Boris Johnson was the second UK PM to visit Gujarat. In 1978, then PM James Callaghan visited Gujarat as a guest of then Indian PM Morarji Desai.
Following Boris Johnson’s recent Gujarat visit, many national and international media outlets claimed that he was the first British Prime Minister to visit the western Indian state.
Among the ones calling him “the first UK PM to visit Gujarat” were publications like the BBC, The Times of India, and The Economic Times.
Industrialist Gautam Adani too amplified this claim. The archived version of his tweet can be seen here.
Honoured to host @BorisJohnson, the first UK PM to visit Gujarat, at Adani HQ. Delighted to support climate & sustainability agenda with focus on renewables, green H2 & new energy. Will also work with UK companies to co-create defence & aerospace technologies. #AtmanirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/IzoRpIV6ns — Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) April 21, 2022
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the claim was untrue. The British High Commission confirmed to India Today that in 1978, then British PM James Callaghan visited Ahmedabad as a guest of then Indian PM Morarji Desai.
It is noteworthy that when we checked the official website of the UK government, we found the claim that Johnson was the first British PM to visit Gujarat there as well. This was later fixed.
AFWA Probe
As we began investigating the viral claim when we found a tweet by the Ahmedabad-based historian Patrick French where he pointed out that former PM Morarji Desai had received then UK PM James Callaghan in Ahmedabad in 1978.
The press are saying this is the first visit by a UK PM to Gujarat, how could they forget that Morarji Desai took Jim Callaghan to Ahmedabad in 1978. pic.twitter.com/U5sN4m9zg4 — Patrick French (@PatrickFrench) April 22, 2022
A New York Times report from January 8, 1978, stated that Callaghan was scheduled to travel with Desai to Gujarat.
What did Boris Johnson say?
Johnson stated in his official statement post the India tour that he was the first Conservative British Prime Minister to visit Gujarat.
He said, “My friend, Prime Minister Modi, Narendra, my khaas dost — is the phrase I wanted in Hindi. We’ve had a fantastic two days in India. And yesterday I became the first Conservative British Prime Minister to visit Gujarat, your birthplace, of course, Narendra, but, as you just said, the ancestral home of around half of all British Indians.”
Additionally, while speaking with Channel 4, when the interviewer said, “You’re the first Prime Minister to”, Johnson interrupted him and finished the sentence: “Come to Gujarat since 1978. How about that? I bet you weren’t gonna say that.”
Correction made in the British government website
As we mentioned earlier, the official website of the UK government stated that Johnson was the first British PM to visit Gujarat. When we contacted the British High Commission about this, it confirmed to India Today that in 1978, former Prime Minister James Callaghan visited Ahmedabad as a guest of the then Indian PM Morarji Desai.
Subsequently, the High Commission corrected the information given on the website from, “This will be the first time a UK Prime Minister has visited Gujarat,” to “This will be the first time a UK Prime Minister from the Conservative Party has visited Gujarat.”
Thus, we concluded that the claim of Boris Johnson being the first British PM to visit Gujarat was totally false.
(With inputs from Yash Mittal)
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