PM Rishi Sunak
RISHI SUNAK has become the UK’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister and also the first person of colour to occupy this chair. The Indian diaspora is calling his elevation a watershed in contemporary British history, even as the Pakistanis are also laying claim to him in view of his Gujranwala roots. The 42-year-old has taken charge after the culmination of the short but tumultuous tenure of Liz Truss. Sunak knows very well that he is wearing a crown of thorns as the UK is facing a ‘profound economic challenge’, as he himself described it. The state of affairs is so bad that he may not even get the customary honeymoon period.
The euphoria among Indians worldwide must be tempered by willingness to ask key questions: Will Sunak’s premiership ensure closer India-Britain ties? Will the free trade agreement be finalised sooner than later and provide a level playing field? Will his government be more accommodating in its treatment of Indian migrants? The answers may not be conclusively in the affirmative, going by how Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman went ballistic over the UK’s asylum system and the influx of migrants during her brief term that ended ignominiously last week. Sunak’s priority will be to safeguard British interests at all costs. India is not likely to have a central place in his scheme of things as he strives to pull Britain out of a cost-of-living crisis that has brought the former colonial master to its knees. He may have to take some difficult decisions in terms of spending and taxation. His policies would have to focus on reaching out to all needy Britons, not just members of certain communities.
Sunak’s remarkable rise should not blind anybody to the fact that Britain has been slow to embrace diversity in the highest echelons of power. India has been way ahead, having had presidents and prime ministers from minority communities over the decades. The enormity of the challenge of winning the British public’s trust is underlined by an Ipsos poll: 36 per cent of the people think Sunak would make a good PM, while 46 per cent are rooting for Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer.
