The hope that the ongoing 13th round of negotiations towards an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) could conclude with a deal for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to sign off in time for the India versus England World Cup cricket clash in Lucknow on October 29 seem to be fading, according to a UK media report on Wednesday. The Financial Times quoted officials briefed on the negotiations to say that a lack of movement towards opening up of the Indian market to British professional services in the field of law and accountancy is among the factors for the slowdown. So much so that cricket fan Sunak's proposed return visit to India after an inaugural visit as UK Prime Minister to New Delhi for the G20 Summit last month is looking "very, very unlikely to happen".
Here are some facts about Rishi Sunak and his India connections.
Sunak is in India along with his wife Akshata Murthy to attend the two-day G20 Summit.
VOTE! Should Republic Day celebrations be cancelled?
'Rama is Lord God of maryada. Today's maryada is the Constitution.'
Rishi Sunak on Monday asked the Conservative Party members to unite behind the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Liz Truss, minutes after she defeated him in the leadership contest to succeed Boris Johnson, to steer the country through difficult times.
The Indian players are currently on a break and will reassemble on July 14.
Sunak said he accepted Williamson's resignation "with great sadness" and thanked him for his "personal support and loyalty".
A new survey of Conservative Party members, who will be casting their ballots to pick the new Tory leader to succeed Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister, on Wednesday shows a widening lead for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest.
The poll found that among those who voted for the Conservatives at the last election, 62 per cent said that party members had made the wrong choice when the race was shortlisted between Truss and Sunak.
The leaders of the Group of Seven on Sunday (local time) mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin over his shirtless, bare-chested horse-riding picture.
Sunak, 42, has consistently topped the shortlist since voting began last week and on Monday he bagged 115 votes in the third round, which leaves only four candidates in the race.
British Indian former Cabinet minister Rishi Sunak maintained his lead as the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and next UK prime minister widened on Sunday with a total of nine candidates in the fray, with Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt emerging as an early second favourite.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seems startled by the Pradhan Mantri's proximity-propinquity as he arrives at the Scottish Exhibition Centre to attend the World Leaders Summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, November 1, 2021.
'For the first time, all major countries are discovering India's indispensability to their own foreign policy interests.'
In an interview via email days ahead of his visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 summit on September 9 and 10, Sunak said Wednesday the response from the Indian people to his appointment as the prime minister was "overwhelming and humbling."
The race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and the British prime minister entered the final countdown stage on Friday, when voting officially closes for Tory members to choose between former chancellor Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
A newly painted mural in the Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, soon after Liz was declared the winner.
Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses, the UK's ministry of defence said on Thursday.
Royals and world leaders gathered at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday morning to bid farewell to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
The G7 summit is scheduled to take place in Cornwall in the UK next month.
He is among several leaders of Indian heritage who have ascended to the highest echelon of public service globally.
If elected, 42-year-old Sunak will go on to make history as the first Prime Minister of the UK of Indian heritage.
Both countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
Later in the day, Biden will host the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders' Summit at the White House with Modi, Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
We know the Pradhan Mantri is the nation's premier fashionista, so when he visited the land of Rob Roy, Mary Queen of Scots and J K Rowling, would he try out a kilt?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit here and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas like green hydrogen, renewables and clean technology, economy and defence.
Both men's and women's teams took a chartered flight, many traveling with their families.
'If he has done something like that nine years ago, and since then he has learnt and done nothing like that and he has changed his ways in recent years, then I don't think you should come down too hard on him.'
The 67-year-old former Goldman Sachs banker, who has been the chairman of the UK taxpayer-funded licence fee-backed British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said the investigation found he had breached the governance code for public appointments.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi slammed Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for suggesting that Republic day celebrations should be cancelled. The minister termed Tharoor's remark "utterly irresponsible".
On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II will invite Truss to become Britain's third lady prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
Meet Sudha Murty and N R Narayana Murthy's daughter whose husband Rishi Sunak is the frontrunner to be Britain's next prime minister.
Lord Jo Johnson, younger brother of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, has resigned his non-executive directorship of a UK-based investment firm linked with the now-withdrawn Adani Enterprises Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). 'The Financial Times' newspaper referenced UK Companies House records to reveal that 51-year-old Lord Johnson had been appointed as a director of London-based Elara Capital Plc in June last year and resigned on Wednesday, the day when the Adani Group announced withdrawal of the FPO. Elara, which described itself as a capital markets business raising funds for Indian corporates, was among the bookrunners on the FPO.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day celebrations.
Ben Stokes was the one, who said that PM Boris Johnson gave a good address. However, one journalist took a jibe at Stokes, saying only the England cricketer ended up liking Johnson's address.
Glimpses of the pro-Ukrainian demonstration in London on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, as the United States warned of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak convincingly won over an audience of Conservative Party members in a head-to-head television debate with rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the leadership contest to elect a new Tory party leader and British prime minister.
One of the most forceful points Rishi raised during the debate was the rise of an inimical China, and how Britain must be prepared to deal with Xi Jinping's Beijing regime.
Thousands of lives have been lost, large areas in Ukraine have been destroyed, but Vladimir Putin refuses to end a cruel and senseless war.
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