British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted a special reception at 10 Downing Street in London as a part of the ongoing UK-India Week. A wide range of political and business leaders and other prominent members of the Indian diaspora were present at the event.
UK-India week is always a big moment on the calendar. This year, it’s getting better. Rishi Sunak while delivering a speech said, “Over the next few weeks, the eyes of the world will be on India. There’s the G20 in New Delhi. I can’t wait to be there not just for the mithai and when India hosts the cricket World Cup and I can tell you that England is taking the prospect of playing India very seriously.”
Talking more about cricket, Sunak said, “They (England), not content with warming up against the Aussies, have overcome a specially chosen British-India bowling attack.” He also expressed his disappointment at not being able to go and watch the match.
The British PM who is quite popular in India due to his Indian heritage also very well understands the relations between both countries and the dip in them due to the controversy followed by the release of the BBC documentary on Narendra Modi, an attack on the Indian foreign office in London, and the tax raids on the BBC offices in India which perhaps led to a delay in negotiations for the trade pact that both countries are expected to sign soon. So, the UK-India week was a big platform for him to talk about his Indian heritage and the bond that the two countries share.
Sunak spoke at length about the UK-India bond and said the links between the two countries are closer than ever. He said, “There’s so much to celebrate, the living bridge between our two countries, the thriving business links…but we want to do more. Prime Minister Modi and I have agreed there’s huge potential here. We are making great progress together on the roadmap of 2023.”
Before concluding his short address, Sunak spoke about his Indian heritage and said, “Here we are in Downing Street with a Prime Minister of Indian Heritage so let’s keep raising our sights…And let’s keep breaking boundaries as we build this partnership.”
Prime Minister Modi and Sunak have met on multiple occasions during multilateral events. The last they met was in Hiroshima in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, and in April the leaders had a telephone conversation to review the progress on a number of bilateral issues, particularly in the trade and economic sectors. During this conversation, PM Modi raised the issue of the security of Indian diplomatic establishments in the UK and called for strong action against anti-India elements. He also pointed to the subject of economic offenders who have sought refuge in the UK and sought progress on the return of these fugitives. Prime Minister Modi also invited Sunak to the G20 Summit to be held in Delhi in September.
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