Sunak may not attend family bash planned for him in India

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will land in India later this week for the G20 World Leaders’ Summit and can expect a grand welcome from his relatives in New Delhi, according to a UK media report.

The Daily Telegraph reported over the weekend that Sunak’s relatives will host a feast with flower bouquets and “non-stop dancing” to Punjabi music.

Dr Gautam Dev Sood, 65, a maternal uncle of the UK Prime Minister of Punjabi heritage, said all relatives have been asked to come to the Indian capital to mark his arrival. “It is a great honour for us that he is visiting his ancestral land,” Sood told the newspaper.

Subhash Berry, Sunak’s paternal uncle, added, “We can’t divulge exact details but a plan is in place to welcome the (British) prime minister. We are gearing up for a night of non-stop dancing, mostly to the lively beats of the traditional Punjabi music, although I imagine we might also groove to a few English tunes along the way.”

The newspaper notes that Sunak is unlikely to attend the event because of an intense work schedule between Friday and Sunday for the G20 summit and bilateral talks on its sidelines.

Indian roots

Sunak, 43, was born in Southampton to parents Yashvir and Usha who have their roots in India. He will be accompanied on his first visit to India as prime minister by his Indian wife, Akshata Murty – the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and author Sudha Murty.

While Sunak has extended family in northern India, Murty’s relatives mostly live in Karnataka.

G20 Summit

Meanwhile, the preparations for the G20 World Leaders’ Summit, which will take place this Saturday and Sunday, are in full swing. According to reports, a bilateral meeting between Sunak and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected on the sidelines.

UK-India relations

Ahead of the visit, the British Indian leader described India as an “indispensable partner” of the UK across all spheres of bilateral cooperation during a Cabinet meeting with his top team at Downing Street this week. “He said negotiations around a free trade deal were progressing and that he would only agree on an approach which worked for the whole of the UK,” noted a Downing Street readout of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (September 5).

UK business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch, who returned from a visit to India after talks with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal last month, also updated the UK Cabinet on the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, saying that “India is already one of the UK’s largest trading partners, with a relationship worth GBP 36 billion a year”.

The FTA talks have completed 12 negotiation rounds and according to a joint outcome statement issued at its conclusion recently, ministers from both sides "took stock of the FTA and agreed ways to progress the negotiations”.

(With agency inputs)