"Britain has outgrown its racism": Shashi Tharoor on Rishi Sunak as UK PM

New Delhi [India], October 25 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday called Rishi Sunak's appointment as the UK Prime Minister an "astonishing" development that shows that Britain has outgrown its "racism".
While talking to ANI, Tharoor called the decision extraordinary at multiple levels.
"Firstly because he is not of English, Scottish or Anglo-Saxon origin, but of an entirely different race. A person of brown skin becoming the Prime Minister of a country where around 85 per cent of the people are white, is truly remarkable," he said.
"The second most significant thing is that his religion is also different. In Britain, there is an established church and Christianity is the official religion of the state. Rishi Sunak practices Hinduism and took his oath as a chancellor on Bhagavad Gita," he further said.
"The third thing is that he became a Chancellor only in 2015. Within five years, he became the finance minister and within seven years he is the prime Minister. This is astonishing growth," he added.
The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram also praised the British for outgrowing their sense of "racial discrimination".
"You can see that Britain has outgrown their racism, shown tremendous willingness to absorb and admit people of other religious faiths and on top of that they've looked at their merit. He holds good experience in managing the economy and was the right person for the situation," he said.
The former MoS said that this holds several lessons for India and that our country should also recognise merit than other considerations.
"These all are lessons for us in India. We should also look beyond some considerations like caste and religion and should recognise that what a country needs is merit," he further added.
However, Tharoor said that it would be wrong of anyone to expect any concessions from him regarding ties with India.
"Rishi Sunak is a Brit. His job will be to serve the national interests of Britain. It would be wrong of us to expect anything other than that from him just because of his Indian connections," Tharoor said.
Sunak on Tuesday scripted history with a series of firsts - the first Indian-origin person to lead the UK, the first non-white person of colour to become the UK's PM, at the age of 42, he is also the youngest person to take the office in more than 200 years, as well as the first PM to take oath under the new King Charles III.
In his statement from 10 Downing Street, Sunak said that he has been elected for the mistakes of former PM Liz Truss.
"He vowed to earn the trust of Britons, saying, "Trust is earned, and I will earn yours."
Sunak said that his government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.
"I stand here before you ready to lead our country into the future, to put your needs above politics, to reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party. Together we can achieve incredible things," said Sunak.
"We will create a future worthy of the sacrifices so many have made and fill tomorrow and every day thereafter with hope," he added.
Sunak said that he will make the most of the Brexit opportunities.
"That work begins immediately," he said, adding, "My government will build an economy that makes the most of the Brexit opportunities."
He began his speech by highlighting UK's profound economic crisis. Sunak said, "Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis. The aftermath of Covid still lingers."
Sunak added that he knows the mandate the Conservative Party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of one person, rather "it is a mandate that belongs to and unites all of us".
He pledged "a stronger NHS, better schools, safer streets, control of our borders, protecting our environment, supporting our armed forces and levelling up."
He became the new UK prime minister after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
Sunak will be the UK's third leader in seven weeks after winning a Tory leadership contest triggered by Truss stepping down.
Sunak ruled out an early general election, despite calls from the opposition Labour, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.