Rishi Sunak will make history as Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, October 24, congratulated British Prime Minister-elect Rishi Sunak and said he looked forward to working closely with him on global issues as well as to implemen the Roadmap 2030 for bilateral ties, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Modi tweeted, “Warmest congratulations @RishiSunak! As you become UK PM, I look forward to working closely on global issues, and implementing Roadmap 2030. Special Diwali wishes to the ‘living bridge’ of UK Indians, as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership.” The Roadmap 2030 for India-UK future relations was launched last year.
Sunak will make history as Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party on Diwali as Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the race.
The 42-year-old former chancellor, a devout Hindu, is now all set to be the next occupant at 10 Downing Street in London, the official residence of British prime ministers. This will take place after an audience with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace, most likely on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder and father-in-law of next UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulated his son-in-law saying he was confident the first Indian-origin PM will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom.
An Oxford and Stanford University alumnae, Sunak is married to Akshata Murthy, the daughter of billionaire Narayana Murthy.
“Congratulations to Rishi. We are proud of him and we wish him success. We are confident he will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom,” the Infosys founder said.
The 42-year-old former chancellor, a devout Hindu, is now all set to be the next occupant at 10 Downing Street in London, the official residence of British prime ministers. This will take place after an audience with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace, most likely on Tuesday.
Sunak’s dramatic reveral of fortune comes in the wake of the resignation of former prime minister Liz Truss after her high-profile sacking and resignation in her cabinet, following a heavily criticised mini-budget that left the UK pound tumbling.
Truss chaired her final Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning before she formally tenders her resignation to 73-year-old monarch King Charles III at.Buckingham Palace.
Sunak, 42, will then arrive at the palace for his meeting with the King, who will formally anoint him as the UK’s new Prime Minister.The former chancellor will then make his first prime ministerial address on the steps of 10 Downing Street
Sunak is the UK’s first Prime Minister of South Asian heritage and at 42 the youngest in more than 200 years. His victory on Diwali has resonated among the Indian diaspora groups across the UK, who have hailed it as a “historic moment” in British social history.
Sunder Katwala, Director of the British Future think tank said: “Rishi Sunak becoming the first British Indian Prime Minister is a historic moment. This simply would not have been possible even a decade or two ago”, said
“That Rishi Sunak is set to be Prime Minister during the coronation of King Charles III next spring tells an important story about our society, where we have come from and where we are going in the future”, he said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury urged Britons to pray for Sunak as he enters No. 10 Downing Street at a turbulent time.
It is significant to recall what David Cameron’s had once told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 at London’s packed Wembley Stadium: “It won’t be long before there is a British-Indian Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street”.
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