I’m a Proud Hindu
Rishi Sunak: Well, first of all, thank you for the warm welcome. It's fantastic for me to be back in India. Obviously, it's personally very special for me to be here, particularly with Akshata, and we've thoroughly enjoyed the first few hours of our trip so far.
And now when it comes to Ukraine and Russia and the conflict, one thing I will be doing is highlighting that the devastating impact that Russia's illegal invasion is having on millions of people around the world, particularly on food prices. Russia recently has pulled out of a grain deal that was shipping grain from Ukraine to many poor countries around the world, and now you've seen food prices go up.
That's causing suffering for millions of people. It's not right, and one of the things I'll be doing is making people aware of that impact of, Russia's illegal war. Journalist: So do you think it will have an impact on, will cast a shadow on the consensus building?
Do you think there'll be problems, the final outcome of G20? Rishi Sunak: No, I think there'll be many things that we'll be discussing here at the G20 under India's leadership, and I'm confident that we'll make very good progress on a range of different issues. I think G20 has been a huge success for India.
It's, India's a right country at the right time to be hosting this, and I feel we're gonna have a very good couple of days of deliberations and decisions made. Journalist: How do you like the theme of one family? Rishi Sunak: I think it's a, it's a great theme.
And actually when you say one family, you know, I'm an example of the incredible living bridge that Prime Minister Modi described between the UK and India. You know, the, almost 2 million people like me in the UK of Indian origin, so it's very special for me to be here as British Prime Minister, you know, in the country where my family are from.
Journalist: So can you give us some sense of a connect with India, like your roots here? So. Rishi Sunak: Well, you know, obviously, you know, my wife is from here, from Bangalore. We got married in Bangalore.
We used to spend lots of time together, before we had children, in Delhi, and we're trying to figure out if we can go to one of our old favorite restaurants this evening. But look, it's, it's personally incredibly special for me to be back in India. It's a country I love dearly, a country where my family are from.
But to come here in this role to represent the UK, to find ways to forge closer links with India, and play a part in making sure that India has an incredibly successful G20. And I'm very proud to see India doing so well on the world stage. Journalist: Sir, coming to the bilateral part of it, a free trade agreement is underway, under discussion between the two countries.
How soon can we expect to complete? Rishi Sunak: Well, both, Modi Ji and I are keen to see a comprehensive and ambitious trade deal concluded between our two countries. Both of us think that there is a good deal to be done.
But trade deals always take time. They need to work for both countries. And although we've made enormous progress, there is still hard work to go, and that's what we need to keep going through.
The G20 is not the forum for those discussions. Of course, I will touch on that with Prime Minister Modi. But the teams are working very hard.
But there's, as I said, there's, there's hard work to go, but we will keep working through it. But I think there is an enormous opportunity for both India and the UK to strengthen our economic cooperation, which will bring real benefits to our citizens in both countries. Journalist: Can you tell us something about your equation with Prime Minister Modi?
Because you have met him a couple of times now. Rishi Sunak: Yes, and I have enormous respect for Modi Ji, and he's been personally very warm and kind to me.
And we're working very hard, as I said, on our shared ambition of concluding an ambitious and comprehensive trade deal, between India and the UK, 'cause both of us think that would be a good thing, and both of us need to make sure it works for our two countries.
And at forums like this, I'm very keen to support Prime Minister Modi in making sure that this G20 is an enormous success for India, which, I know it will be. And this has been a great year for India more generally. Journalist: Sir, another question.
A lot of Indian community lives in your country there, and we have seen some ugly scenes of Khalistani protests, separatist protests. How do you secure Indian interests since they are, because this is a big, huge issue between the two countries. Rishi Sunak: Yeah. It's a, it's a It's, it's an, it's a really important question, and let me just say unequivocally that no form of extremism or violence like that is acceptable in the UK.
And that's why we are working very closely with the Indian government to particularly tackle PEK, pro-Khalistan extremism. I don't think it's right. Our security minister recently was just in India talking to his counterparts.
We have working groups together to share intelligence and information so that we can root out this kind of violent extremism. It's not right, and I won't tolerate it in the UK. Journalist: Sir, how do you look at India in position on Russia and Ukraine?
Rishi Sunak: Well, it's, it's not for me to tell India to what positions to take on international issues. But I know India rightly cares about the international rule of law, the UN charter, and respect for territorial integrity. I think those are things that are universal values that we all share.
Those are things that I believe, and India I know believes in those things too. Journalist: Sir, you have defined, India-UK relation as a defining of our times. And what is the roadmap of 2030?
Can you give us some broad sense of the bilateral relation? Well, Rishi Sunak: I think the bilateral relationship is in good health, and Prime Minister Modi and I are keen to deepen and broaden our relationship. The FTA is an obvious way for us to do that, which is why it remains our priority.
And as I said, hard work to go, but I hope we can conclude a successful FTA. I think we can strengthen our security relationship as well. That's something that I've spoken to the prime minister about.
And then something I'm particularly excited about is increasing the collaboration between our incredible researchers, our scientific community, our universities. The UK and India are two of the leading science technology superpowers of the world, and I think if we work more closely together, we can create jobs, create new businesses, and help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. Journalist: My last question to you.
You talked about your roots in India. People also talk, you know, much talk about your roots. You are connect to Hinduism, and you wear these, you know, rolis in your hands.
Tell us something about it. Rishi Sunak: Yeah. So I'm a proud Hindu, and that's how I was raised. That's how I am.
Hopefully I can, visit Amanda while I'm here for the next couple of days. And yes, we've just had Raksha Bandhan, so from my sister and my cousins, I have all my rakis. And you know, as I.
We I didn't have time to celebrate Janmashtami properly, the other day. But hopefully, as I said, I can make up for that if we visit Amanda this time. But it's, it's something that is important to me.
I think faith is something that helps everybody who has faith in their lives, particularly when you have these stressful jobs like I do. Having faith to give you resilience, to give you strength, is important, and it provides an outlook on life which I find particularly valuable.
