UK PM's upcoming trip to India canceled: Downing Street

LONDON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's trip to India next week has been canceled, Downing Street confirmed Monday.

"In the light of the current coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to travel to India next week," the British and Indian governments said in a joint statement.

The latest development came as India is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

British scientists have also raised concerns over the detection in Britain of a new variant of the virus that first emerged in India.

More than 32.8 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

It is understood that the coronavirus variant B.1.617, which has a "double mutation", may be more infectious and the current vaccines may be less effective against it.

At present, British officials have designated it as "a variant under investigation" rather than "a variant of concern".

Originally, Johnson's India trip was scheduled to take place on April 26, the BBC said.

The trip has already been rescheduled once. It was originally meant to take place in January but was canceled due to Britain's national lockdown, according to the BBC.

India is currently reeling under the second COVID-19 wave, with more than 200,000 new cases being registered each day recently and the national tally feared to cross the 15-million mark early next week.