Indian-origin British MP Rishi Sunak, who has won the race to be the leader of the Conservative Party, is all set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after his rival Penny Mordaunt backed out of the race, pledging her full support. Notably, Rishi Sunak is the son-in-law of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy.

The former finance minister formally declared his candidacy to contest the Conservative Party leadership election on Sunday to replace Liz Truss as the British PM. Truss, who is the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the political history of the United Kingdom after serving as leader for only 40 days, announced her resignation on October 20 after party members rebelled against her claiming that her mini-budget negatively affected the UK economy.

Liz Truss will be giving her departing statement outside 10 Downing Street following her last cabinet meeting. Rishi Sunak will then be meeting King Charles at the Buckingham Palace, where he will officially be appointed as the new Prime Minister. As soon as the result was declared, Rishi Sunak, in his first statement, said his priority would be to bring the country together and said he was humbled and honoured to get the greatest privilege of his life to give back to the country he owes so much to.

Congratulating Rishi Sunak on the big victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he looked forward to working closely together on global issues and implementing the Roadmap 2030 for bilateral relations. “Special Diwali wishes to the 'living bridge' of U.K. Indians, as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership,” the PM added.