By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2022-10-26 07:29:59
Much has
been made about the Indian origins of UK's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Different
people have been drawing different conclusions about him being the first man of
colour, the first non-Christian and the youngest in 200 years to get the post.
But the fact is that Sunak is a British citizen and has become the Prime
Minister through his capabilities and hard work. That he could get the top post
is a tribute to the non-discriminatory and inclusive society in Britain where
talent and work are recognized as the top contributing factor for a person's
progress, excluding all else like origin, religion and colour.
Politically
for India, it hardly matter if Sunak is a Hindu or a person of Indian origin or
is the son-in-law of Infosys founder N R Narayan Murthy. These, or any other
factors, are not likely to guide Sunak in his dealings with India. The Prime
Minister of any other country will be solely guided by the interests of his or
her own nation. Yes it is a matter of pride that a person of Indian origin has
risen to such a high level in a country which ruled over India for close to one
hundred years but apart from that, India cannot expect and concessions or undue
favours from Sunak.
Prime
Minister Modi, in his congratulatory message to Sunak, expressed the hope that
the 'living bridge' of UK Indians will help in transforming India's historic
with Britain into a modern partnership. But concerns remain. The Diwali 2022 deadline
for a trade deal has already been missed, mainly due to the fact that the UK is
witnessing political turmoil for the last few months. Hence, it is required
that political stability returns to the UK under Sunak for relations to improve
between the two countries.