Rishi Sunak touched down in New Delhi this week for the G20 Leaders’ Summit to a warm welcome with the words “Jai Siya Ram” from India’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who greeted him at the airport along with the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis.
Sunak and wife Akshata Murty were all smiles as they were greeted with a traditional Indian dance performance before the British Indian couple were reportedly handed special gifts of religious Rudraksh beads, a copy of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and ‘Hanuman Chalisa’.
“We will be greeting them with much warmth, in the Indian tradition of Atithi Devo Bhava (guest is God),” Choubey told reporters in Delhi.
Sunak has often spoken about the inspiration he derives from his Hindu faith and most recently began an address with ‘Jai Siya Ram’ during a visit to a Ram Katha by spiritual leader Morari Bapu at Jesus College, University of Cambridge.
A regular visitor to the country of his heritage, this particular visit to India for the British first couple has the additional symbolism of being their first since Sunak took charge at 10 Downing Street Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister.
“It's obviously special. I saw somewhere that I was referred to as India's son-in-law, which I hope was meant affectionately," Sunak told reporters travelling with him.
While the climate crisis and Russia-Ukraine conflict are likely to dominate some of the agenda at the summit, the UK-India free trade agreement (FTA) talks are expected to be in focus during Sunak’s bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – something the British Indian leader stressed he won't rush.
He said on arriving in New Delhi: "India is going to be one of the most important countries over the coming years and decades and it's vital that the UK has a close relationship with India, particularly a close economic relationship.
"But when it comes to trade deals, I always said that it would be good to have an ambitious and comprehensive trade deal with India for all those reasons, but we can't rush it and I won't rush it. I've always said I want to take the time to get trade deals right so that they work for the British people and work for the UK.
“Lots of progress has been made on this one but we are not there yet, so we’ve got to keep going.”
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