Rise of Sunak is not a quick fix for UK-India relations

Experts tell Namita Singh it would be wrong of New Delhi to expect too much too fast from the post-Brexit relationship

- Namita Singh

When Rishi Sunak became the first person of Indian origin to enter No 10 as the UK's prime minister, it was a moment celebrated by many across the South Asian country that only a few months ago marked 75 years since the end of British colonial rule.

That the news Britain would be getting its first Hindu leader arrived on Diwali, the most important festival in the Hindu calendar, made the symbolic significance even harder to miss, and there are many who have expressed the hope that Mr Sunak will usher in a new era of close relations between the two countries.

At a diplomatic level, both India and the UK often like to talk of the so-called "living bridge" between their two countries Britain's huge diaspora and South Asian-origin community, of which Mr Sunak is now the leading example. There was a nod to this on the day of Mr Sunak's selection from India's prime minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted his "special Diwali wishes to the living bridge' of UK Indians, as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership".

Now that the dust from the celebrations has settled, the question in India is whether that transformation will be accelerated by Mr Sunak - or whether the new prime minister will have his attention elsewhere.

After Boris Johnson and, albeit briefly, Liz Truss, Mr Sunak succeeds two British prime ministers who paid great lip service to the importance of the UK's relationship with India, but who also failed to oversee the completion of a much sought-after free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries by the deadline of Diwali.

"One of the main advantages that I see [for Mr Sunak] as compared with Liz Truss, is that he is somebody who is familiar with India and who has a connection with India," said Navdeep Suri, a former Indian diplomat who served in London and is now a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank.