Shawdesh Desk:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the US president flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord.

Having helped broker the 1998 deal, the United States remains an influential voice in Northern Ireland’s politics and has sought to protect the peace from the strains caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union, Hindustan Times reported.

Sunak will greet Biden on Tuesday evening when Air Force One lands for what will be a closely watched visit to both sides of the Irish border at a time of heightened political uncertainty in Northern Ireland.

Sunak hosts a gala dinner on Wednesday to commemorate the anniversary, his office said in a statement setting out some details of his itinerary.

Biden, who often speaks proudly of his Irish roots, will also spend time in the Irish Republic, where he will visit Dublin and his two ancestral homes.

The Good Friday Agreement – signed on April 10, 1998 – largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s.