As Rishi Sunak Becomes UK PM, A Look At Indian-Origin World Leaders In Key Roles


Rishi Sunak, 42, is all set to become the first person of Indian origin to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Monday, as Hindus around the world celebrated Diwali. 

He will be the UK’s youngest and first Prime Minister of colour.

Rishi Sunak will be the third Prime Minister the United Kingdom has had in seven months. Liz Truss, who won the party’s internal election and succeeded Boris Johnson, resigned on October 20 after only 45 days in office. 

He served as the UK Finance Minister and was praised for his Covid-19 economic rescue package. 

As Indian-origin Sunak becomes the UK’s first Prime Minister of colour, here’s a look at some other Indian-origin leaders around the world:

List Of Global Leaders Of Indian-Origin On Higher Ranks Across Globe: 

Kamala Harris:

Kamala Devi Harris is the 49th Vice President of the United States and an American politician and attorney. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in the United States’ history, as well as the first African American and Asian American vice president.

Born in California to Indian and Jamaican parents, she is the first woman and first person of colour to hold that position.

She was a senator for California from 2017 to 2021 and the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

ALSO READ: Who Is Rishi Sunak? Oxford Graduate With Punjab Ancestry And Son-In-Law Of Infosys Founder

Pravind Jugnauth:

Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is a Mauritian politician who has been the country’s Prime Minister since January 2017. Jugnauth has been the Militant Socialist Movement’s leader since April 2003. Pravind Jugnauth’s ancestors come from Uttar Pradesh. Jugnauth was born into a Hindu family of Ahirs.

Antonio Costa: 

António Luis Santos da Costa GCIH, the 119th and current Prime Minister of Portugal, has been in office since November 26, 2015. Costa is half Portuguese and half Indian; his father was born to a Goan family in Maputo, Mozambique. Costa is affectionately known as Babush in Goa, a Konkani word that means a young loved one.

Mohamed Irfaan Ali: 

On August 2, 2020, Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in as Guyana’s ninth executive President. He was born in Leonora, West Coast Demarara, into a Muslim Indo-Guyanese family.

Ali is Guyana’s first Muslim president and the Americas’ second Muslim head of state after Noor Hassanali.

Chan Santokhi: 

Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who has served as the country’s ninth president since 2020. Santokhi was Suriname’s sole presidential candidate after winning the 2020 elections. Santokhi was elected president by acclamation on July 13, in an uncontested election.

He was born in 1959 in Lelydorp, Suriname, to an Indo-Surinamese Hindu family.

Prithvirajsing Roopun: 

Prithvirajsing Roopun GCSK, also known as Pradeep Singh Roopun, is a Mauritian politician who has been the country’s seventh president since 2019.

Roopun was born into an Indian Arya Samaji Hindu  family.

Leo Varadkar:

Leo Eric Varadkar is an Irish Fine Gael politician who is serving as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since June 2020, having previously served as Taoiseach and Minister for Defence from 2017 to 2020.

Born on 18 January 1979, in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Varadkar is the third child and only son of Ashok and Miriam (née Howell) Varadkar. His father was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, to work as a doctor.