Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: Indian leaders in Northern Ireland ‘delighted’ with new leader for UK

Belfast hotelier and Tory Peer Lord Diljit Rana told the News Letter: "It is a great day for our country, not just for the Indian community. He is a very capable individual.

"As a chancellor he did a great job during the pandemic, so hopefully he will do a good job [as Prime Minister] and stabilise the finances of our country".

He added: "He is a very committed individual and still a young person - only 42 - to have reached that position, and the support that he got from the Conservative Party is quite saying something about his ability, personality and relations with the other MPs.

"So hopefully he achieves what he promised, that is - to stabilise the finances and create a more prosperous UK."

It is also very interesting that his appointment coincided with the Hindu festival of lights or Diwali, he added.

This would be seen as very significant in the Indian community, he said, because Diwali is not just an Indian festival.

"It is a festival for all human beings on the planet. It is bringing light and knowledge against ignorance and darkness.”

Dr Satyavir Singhal BEM, Chairman of Indian Community Centre in Belfast and Consultant anesthetist said his community was "delighted" by the news.

There are around 15,000 Indians in Northern Ireland, he added.

He added that it was also think it is good news for the United Kingdom because it "proves" it is a democratic country - and shows that society is changing.

"Rishi was born here but his parents were immigrants with an Indian background."

His father was a GP and his mother ran a pharmacy, he said.

He said the appointment of Rishi as Prime Minister would be as significant for Indians as the election of Barak Obama as US President was for black Americans.

"I was talking to a young Indian person today who told me: 'Oh uncle, now we have a chance'."

The feeling is now that people from ethnic minority backgrounds who came and settled here in the UK can now "can go upwards with the elite" Dr Singhal added.