CNN
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Like Rishi Sunak made history this week by becoming Britain’s first Prime Minister Indian With his roots, many in the South Asian country were quick to congratulate the new leader – with some media even claiming he was theirs.
India was once part of the British empire that spanned the world until now, it was often said that the sun would never set on it. But 75 years since the end by the British Raj, many Indian commentators are happy to point out how times have changed.
“The son of the Indians rises above the empire. History has come full circle in the UK,” an NDTV headline said.
“From Age of Empire to Rishi Raj as Sunak enters number 10,” famous The Times Of India.
“India has [once] under British rule. Now, a man of Indian origin has become the Prime Minister of the UK,” said a Zee News presenter.
Others are more blunt about what they see as the symbolism behind Sunak’s appointment, the news of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
“Another Diwali gift to the country. Rishi is of Indian origin to rule the whites,” said India’s largest Hindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, with a circulation of nearly 5 million.
For some, Sunak’s appointment is just the latest in a series of events meant to highlight the contrasting fortunes of a rising India and the recent economic crises of Britain, the nation was once a colony of this country.
After Britain withdrew from the European Union, London repeatedly looked to its former colony for promotion; lure it to seek a free trade deal and issue more visas to Indian citizens than any other country.
And now, just weeks after the UK ceded to India the title of the world’s fifth largest economy, it is former Finance Secretary Sunak who has turned to London in hopes of fixing the economic carnage caused by policies of his short-lived predecessor. , Liz Truss, bustling market and pound drop.
Given British actions during the colonial period – when Indians were excluded from the top jobs in their country and barred from joining many organizations – it is perhaps not surprising that there is a sense of Schadenfreude.
But experts say it would be a mistake to assume that this is the only emotion in India. Many in the country of 1.3 billion people see this moment as a reason to celebrate progress in both countries and hope Sunak can act as a bridge between India and the UK by opening a new relationship era.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested so in a tweet welcoming Sunak’s appointment.
“Diwali is particularly looking forward to the ‘living bridge’ of Indians in the UK, as we transform our historic relationship into a modern partnership,” the Indian leader tweeted on Thursday. Two.
Others see Sunak’s victory as reflecting the growing role in British politics for people of South Asian descent.
“For a long time, the question was whether the UK was ready for Sunak to be Prime Minister,” said Harsh V. Pant, vice president of research and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation. headquarters in New Delhi said.
“And the fact that he is now really is a huge tribute to British democracy and the role the South Asian community has played in British politics.”
The relationship between Britain and India is complicated, due to a history of inequality and exploitation during the colonial era.
“Some people are still confused as to why Rishi Sunak’s race matters. It matters because the imperial context,” tweeted Sathnam Sanghera, author of “Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped No Modern Britain,” tweeted.
Many Indians still haven’t forgotten the chaos that followed the country’s independence in 1947 and its subsequent bloody division, in which between 500,000 and 2 million people were killed and an estimated 15 million people lost their lives. uprooted person.
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Pant says that until relatively recently it was “unthinkable” for a man of Indian origin to rule Britain, but Sunak’s appointment is the latest evidence that today’s relationship “closely resembles that of 21st century than in the past. And that has allowed the two to move forward in a much more productive way. ”
Economic considerations are at the heart of this more modern relationship, with London increasingly looking to India and its $3 trillion economy for opportunities in the post-Brexit era.
According to a 2017 report, Britain remains one of the largest investors in India with British companies employing nearly 800,000 people in the country, and politicians in both countries hoping for economic ties. will develop under Sunak.
Among the biggest prizes on offer is a much-anticipated free trade agreement, which aims to triple bilateral trade, from $31 billion to $100 billion by 2030.
When then-British prime minister Boris Johnson visited India in April, the two leaders agreed to sign that deal with Diwali. That deadline has been missed but there is fresh hope of a deal that can be reinstated under Sunak.
“Whether Sunak signs a contract or not will be an important mark,” Pant said. “And it is an important benchmark for the readiness of India-UK relations.”
While Sunak’s face has been plastered across newspapers and television in India, the mood on the ground is harder to gauge. The streets of Delhi are deserted as Indians celebrate Diwali – the most important holiday in the Hindu calendar, accounting for about 80% of the country’s population.
“It’s good to see someone with an Indian family take the top job and it’s the same in Diwali, it’s like a blessing,” said Rajesh, a chemist in the Indian capital. , a chemist in the Indian capital. “But it doesn’t mean things between India and the UK will automatically improve.”
For some, his date was more than just a foreign news story.
One shop owner, Arjun, said Sunak’s date “didn’t make a difference” for Indians. “Yes, he is Indian but he is still from there,” he said.
Others say that the importance of the date with Sunak is that it emphasizes the success of the Indian communityespecially in the UK, where about 7% of the population is of South Asian descent, according to a 2011 census.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is also of Indian ancestry, while London mayor Sadiq Khan was born into a working-class Pakistani family.
Sunak’s parents came to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. His father was a doctor while his mother ran a pharmacy in the south of England – something Sunak said made him yearn to serve the public.
Uphill economic battle facing new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: Analysts weigh
15:55
– Source: CNN
“British Indians is what I mark in the census, we have a category for it. I am completely British, this is my home and country, but my cultural and religious heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu,” Sunak said in an interview with Business Standard in 2015.
When he was sworn in before parliament in 2019, Sunak clutched the Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hinduism. A year later, he made history by lighting Diwali candles outside 11 Downing Street, the official residence of the UK prime minister.
Now, he is at the height of his power – and according to analysts, it is the epitome of the success of the expat community.
Pant, from the Observer Research Foundation, said Sunak’s appointment symbolizes how people of South Asian descent have “cut across political parties in the UK”, adding that Sunak “will shape the political trajectory” ” his.
“I think there is a certain degree of comfort that diaspora Indians have in these democracies,” Pant said. “And that reflects India’s greatest success globally.”
