'Gearing up for non-stop dancing': UK PM Rishi Sunak's family in India prepares for grand welcome

Indian-origin British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is likely to receive a grand welcome from his relatives when he lands in New Delhi later this week for the G20 Summit, UK-based The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday. Sunak's relatives will host a feast with flower bouquets and "non-stop dancing" to Punjabi music, the report said.

Dr Gautam Dev Sood, 65, a maternal uncle of Sunak of Punjabi heritage, said all relatives have been asked to come to New Delhi to mark his arrival. "It is a great honour for us that he is visiting his ancestral land," Sood told the newspaper.

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Subhash Berry, Sunak's paternal uncle, said a plan was in place to welcome the British Prime Minister. "We can't divulge exact details but a plan is in place to welcome the (British) Prime Minister. We are gearing up for a night of non-stop dancing, mostly to the lively beats of the traditional Punjabi music, although I imagine we might also groove to a few English tunes along the way."

Sunak became UK Prime Minister in October last year after his predecessor Liz Truss' term ended abruptly. He is married to Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. Sunak will be in India later this week for the high-profile G20 Summit in New Delhi. This will be his first visit after taking over as UK Prime Minister.

In May this year, Sunak met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit in Japan. They discussed progress on a UK-India free trade agreement, Sunak's office said, adding that both leaders agreed that their teams would continue to work at pace to finalise an ambitious and mutually beneficial deal.

Ahead of his visit, Sunak told his ministers he would only reach a trade agreement with India when it benefited the whole of Britain. "He said negotiations around a free trade deal were progressing and that he would only agree (to) an approach which worked for the whole UK," Sunak's office spokesperson said as per Reuters.