UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that India’s diversity and its extraordinary successes mean it is the “right country” at the “right time” to hold the G20 presidency.
“This country’s scale, diversity, and extraordinary successes mean India is the right country at the right time to hold the G20 Presidency. I pay tribute to Prime Minister Modi’s leadership over the last year and it’s wonderful to see India showing such global leadership,” Sunak said in an interview with PTI.
“We will also work closely with India through their Presidency of the G20 to address the biggest challenges the world is facing, from stabilising the global economy to dealing with climate change,” Sunak said, ahead of the G20 Summit.
“2023 is a huge year for India, from all the different G20 meetings taking place all over the country to the Cricket World Cup next month — India is definitely home to the biggest global geopolitical events of the year!” he added.
Referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, the British PM said, “As two major world democracies, our people define and drive us. That is why the UK is focused on supporting Ukraine to defend itself and defeat this illegal and unprovoked Russian invasion”.
“As a free and democratic country, Ukraine has the right to determine its own future. If Putin is allowed to invade a sovereign neighbour with impunity it will have terrible consequences for the entire world,” he said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians, but it is Putin who has the power to end this war tomorrow by withdrawing his troops,” Sunak added.
