Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally begun his much-delayed trip to India, during which he hopes to strengthen ties between the two nations.

       On the first day of his two-day trip, he visited the ashram of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat, and was given a tour of a new JCB factory by the firm’s owner – major Tory donor Lord Bamford.

       At Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Boris Johnson tried his hand at weaving khadi on a charkha (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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       The Prime Minister told the two women helping him with the traditional wheel: ‘It’s a bit of an art, this spinning’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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       The Sabarmati Ashram was the centre of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle against British rule (Ben Stansall/PA)

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       Mr Johnson draped a ring of khadi cloth around a statue of Gandhi during the visit (Ben Stansall/PA)

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       He left a note in the visitors’ book saying it had been an ‘immense privilege’ to learn how Gandhi ‘mobilised such simple principles of truth andnon-violence to change the world for the better’ (Ben Stansall/PA)

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       Mr Johnson then boarded an Indian military Chinook helicopter for a flight to a JCB factory at Vadodara, Gujarat state (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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       At the plant, Mr Johnson spoke to workers and learned about their roles (Ben Stansall/PA)

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       He was given a tour of the new factory by JCB chairman Lord Bamford, who is a major Tory donor (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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       The PM climbed aboard at JCB to pose for pictures during his factory tour (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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