Boris Johnson accused of breaking vow to ‘ensure Putin fails in Ukraine’ in hunt for India trade deal

‘No pressure’ applied to persuade India to drop neutral stance on Russia – despite promise four weeks ago

Boris Johnson has been accused of breaking a pledge to do everything possible to ensure “Putin fails” in Ukraine, in his desire for a post-Brexit trade deal with India.

Opposition parties hit out after the prime minister admitted he did not try to persuade India to drop its neutral stance towards Russia – as he pressed the accelerator on an agreement.

Last month, No 10 insisted it was putting pressure on “all world leaders” to join a global push to ensure Ukraine’s misery “cannot continue and that Putin fails in what he’s trying to do”.

But, in New Delhi, after talks between Mr Johnson and Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, both sides agreed “no pressure” had been applied over India’s alliance with Moscow.

It has abstained in successive United Nations votes to condemn Russia, which is India’s biggest supplier of arms, and continues to buy Moscow’s oil.

“The prime minister, once again, is not standing up for UK interests in international trade negotiations,” said Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow trade secretary.

“Not even raising the issue of India’s neutrality on Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is a failure of leadership that shows a Prime Minister too distracted by trying to save his own skin to do his job properly.”

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “This must be a matter of principle for the UK – sadly, Johnson seems so desperate for a bargain-basement trade deal that he is keeping quiet.

“We should be standing tall on the world stage and stating that the UK expects any country which seeks increased access to our market not to bypass sanctions placed on Russia.”

The criticism came as Mr Johnson was confronted with a report by the Royal United Services Institute, warning India is a major route for smuggling arms to Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Hours earlier, he had announced that the UK will ease rules for exporting arms to India, by issuing an open general export licence.

Mr Johnson spoke with his counterpart for around 45 minutes, at the close of his two-day trip to India, devoting up to 15 minutes on Ukraine, No 10 said.

But the spokesman said Mr Johnson was “not there to talk to another democratic country about what actions they should take” when asked about whether he challenged Mr Putin.

And he admitted talks had focused more on “energy and defence”, rather than on calling for Mr Modi to stop buying arms, oil and gas from Russia.

At a press conference, Mr Johnson argued India is “not going to change” its “historic relationship” with Russia, going back to the Cold War, regardless of the Ukraine invasion.

Its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met Mr Modi in Delhi this month and insisted the two countries would continue to find ways to trade, despite western sanctions.