Desi politicians hit sweet spot abroad
New Delhi, October 25
Politicians of Indian origin have of late hit a sweet spot with the addition of Rishi Sunak as the UK’s Prime Minister. Currently, at least nine persons of Indian origin are either heads of state or heads of government.
Politicians of Indian-origin taking power is not unusual in a wide swath of developing countries such as Suriname, Singapore, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Malaysia, Fiji and Seychelles. But with the addition of Sunak, politicians of Indian-origin are now heading governments simultaneously in developed countries too such as Portugal, Singapore and now the UK. In Ireland, there will be a PM of Indian origin from December.
Kamala Harris is not a head of state or government, but is the first Indian-origin US Vice-President. Mauritius has had nine heads of state of Indian origin and Suriname has had five Presidents from the community. Four heads of state in Guyana and three in Singapore were of Indian descent. In addition, Trinidad & Tobago, Portugal, Malaysia, Fiji, Ireland and Seychelles have chosen an Indian-origin head of state.
Portugal and Ireland have had Indian-origin heads of government in the past.
In Portugal, Alfredo Nobre da Costa became head of government about 40 years ago, followed by Antonio Costa, who ran the government for a year in 2015.
In Ireland, Leo Varadkar was the PM till 2020 and is scheduled to take the post again in December this year. British-Indian Rishi Sunak becoming the youngest Prime Minister of the UK may have a great symbolic value for India, but that does not imply that the India-United Kingdom relations are going to be “special” from now onwards.
Making it big
Portugal: PM António Costa
Mauritius: PM Pravind Jugnauth
Mauritius: Prez Prithviraj Roopun
Singapore: Prez Halimah Yacob
Suriname: Prez Chan Santokhi
Guyana: President Irfaan Ali
Seychelles: Prez W Ramkalawan
Jamaica: PM Andrew Holness
UK: Prime Mininster Rishi Sunak
PM wishes Sunak
Special Diwali wishes to the ‘living bridge’ of the British-Indians as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership. — Narendra Modi, PM
