The gruelling race for the UK PM post finally ended with Liz Truss bagging the top post. She was up against a ‘favourite’ of the Indian diaspora – Rishi Sunak whose Indian roots is said to have been an inspiration for many in UK. Though the Indian community in UK rooted for Sunak and even launched several social media campaigns in his favour, they have expressed optimism over the new prime minister Liz Truss.
Even though Sunak’s loss may seem like a minor setback in strengthening India-UK ties, a similar commitment may be coming to India from the newly elected Truss government.
The British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis today said, “Liz Truss will further strengthen the UK-India comprehensive strategic partnership. She knows India well & has visited 3 times in the last 18 months. She re-kickstarted our trade negotiations which are now in full swing”.
“Indian-UK economies are quite closely tied already. We aim to double-trade by 2030. Economic ties are good for our economies, jobs & also good for our strategic relationships as well as we face the face big challenges of the next 25 years,” Ellis added.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had congratulated Liz Truss on her new post said he is confident that the India-UK relationship will grow further under her leadership. Congratulating Truss on being elected as the leader of the UK Conservative Party, Jaishankar tweeted, “Your commitment to raising India-UK cooperation to a higher level is well known. Confident that our relationship will grow further under your leadership.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also congratulated Truss on Monday night after she was chosen to be the next prime minister of the UK and had expressed confidence that under her leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be further strengthened.
Truss has repeatedly in the past called for deeper ties between India and UK. She has made several visits to India and held virtual talks with Union Minister Piyush Goyal where she hailed India as a ‘major opportunity’ and said “UK and India are in a sweet spot of trade dynamics that is building up.
Other officials too have vouched for Truss’ commitment towards boosting India-UK ties. City of London Policy Chair Chris Hayward, who recently visited India to promote ties with the financial hub of London, expressed confidence that there will be a consistent focus on India-UK visa issues.
“The next Conservative Prime Minister will continue to strengthen our ties with India. It is an incredibly important market to the UK, we would urge that we continue to build on the legacy,” he said.
Truss clinched the race over the British Indian former Chancellor with the final result of 57% versus 43% – closer than was forecast in the final weeks of the nearly eight-week-long campaign.
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