the Indian press welcomes the appointment of Rishi Sunak

“UK welcomes Raj Rishi on Diwali”headlined one of the most widely read English-language dailies in IndiaThe Times of India, Tuesday, October 25. The day after the appointment of Rishi Sunak to the post of British Prime Minister, the Indian press hailed the arrival of this Hindu, son of Indian immigrants, at the head of the former colonial power. Greetings that came from the top of power since the Indian Prime Minister himself, Narendra Modi, expressed his “warm congratulations” to the newly elected, on Twitter.

Rishi Sunak’s parents, who were born in India and emigrated to East Africa, had arrived in the UK in the 1960s. “Rishi Sunak becomes the first prime minister of Indian origin, Hindu, non-white, this Diwali Monday”thus salute the Times of India, highlighting the coincidence of Sunak’s rise to power with one of the most important Hindu festivals. Diwali commemorates an episode of the “Ramayana”, one of the mythological poems of Hinduism and more broadly the victory of good over evil, life over death, light over darkness.

Relations with the former colonial power

The Hindustan Times, another main English-language title very popular in India, also devoted an insert on its front page to the new prime minister, highlighting the symbolism of this appointment, as Rishi Sunak prepares to meet King Charles III on Tuesday. “Only seven decades after the ordinance of the British monarch relating to the lands of Sunak’s ancestors, it is a politician of Indian origin who will draw the contours of the king’s speech to announce the political orientations of the government”note the Indian title.

After Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, former interior ministers and Sajid Javid, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to Minister of Finance), the daily welcomes the entry into government of several women and men politicians from Asian in recent years.

The arrival in power of Rishi Sunak could also influence the relationship between the United Kingdom and India, while the two countries were preparing to sign a free trade agreement, in negotiations for several months. “ Choosing Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister will inject welcome color into the India-UK relationship and could unlock the bilateral trade deal that should have been signed on Diwali,” thus recalls the Times of India. The agreement notably provides for better access to the respective markets of the two countries in terms of agrifood, textiles, automobiles and medical devices.

Meritocracy and the glass ceiling

Several media and public figures have also praised Rishi Sunak’s merit in gaining power. “The pragmatism of the Conservative Party and the work ethic, unique to Asians, gave the United Kingdom its first Prime Minister of Indian origin, 75 years after the country’s independence from its colonial power”welcomed the Hindustan Times.

In the columns of Times of IndiaLord Raminder Singh Ranger, member of the British House of Lords, was delighted that Sunak had broken a glass ceiling. “British Indians were ecstatic to see Rishi Sunak become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which they say shows the country’s multiculturalism and meritocracy”continued the TOI.

A “meritocracy” however to qualify since Rishi Sunak is one of the richest politicians in the United Kingdom, from a wealthy middle class, having studied in the most prestigious – and expensive – Anglo-Saxon universities, such as Oxford and Stanford in the United States.