Mumbai Apr 22 PTI British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said no country should preach to another and nobody can say that India is not a democracy The visiting PM who spoke at the Times Network India Economic Conclave was asked about the recent debate on the issue of freedoms of non-governmental organisations academics and other groups in India in the House of Lords The British MPs had also called on Johnson to take up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to New Delhi I dont think it is the job of parliamentariansthey say all sorts of things You should see what they say about me in our Parliament Johnson said I dont think its the job of one country to preach to another India is an incredible country It has 135 billion people the biggest democracy Nobody can say India is not a democracy Its an extraordinary place And above all it is ever more important in a world where the growth of the future is going to be in the Indo-Pacific he said The UK is tilting towards the Indo-Pacific and Indias role is guardian of democratic values and in that area it is even more important the British prime minister further said Asked whether the UK condemns Chinese incursions along Indias borders the British PM said his country has always condemned breaches of territorial integrity Thats why I condemn so strongly what happened in Ukraine We need to learn the lesson on how autocracies behave he said Referring to Aukus a security alliance of Australia the US and UK and the way the UK has to work together with friends and partners in the Indo-Pacific he added that it is not an exclusionary thing and we want to work ever more intensively with India There has been progress on the UK-India free trade deal he said adding that the bar on British apples has been lifted I would like to see a free trade deal done by Diwali There are some traditional areas where India maintains tariffs he said Johnson also said that his government has a much more proactive policy on welcoming talent to the UK from India There are around 99000 Indian students in the UK he said adding that the numbers have risen after going down for a brief period On liberalisation of visa regime Johnson said the UK is short of people in some sectors like the IT which are required for the growth of the economy Earlier in the day Johnson held talks with prime minister Modi in Delhi PTI PR KRK KRK