Rishi Sunak is new UK PM: A look at India-origin world leaders in key roles

London, Oct 24: Rishi Sunak on Monday scripted history on Diwali as Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party. He is the first person of Indian origin to hold the top post, just as Hindus across the world celebrate Diwali. At 42, he is also be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years.

Here's a look at other world leaders of Indian origin in key roles:

Kamala Harris

US vice president Kamala Harris, born in California to parents who emigrated from India and Jamaica, became the nation's first Black and South Asian vice president, as well as the first woman to hold that office.

Pravind Jugnauth

Prime Minister of Mauritius since 2017, Pravind Jugnauth was born into a Hindu Ahir family.

Antonio Costa

Antonio Costa is of Portuguese and Indian descent who became the Prime Minister of Portugal in 2015. In Goa, Costa is affectionately known as Babush, a word in Konkani meaning young loved one.

Prithvirajsing Roopun

Prithvirajsing Roopun, serving as the seventh president of Mauritius was born in an Indian Arya Samaji Hindu family.

Chan Santokhi
Chandrikapersad, who is the 9th president of Suriname, was born in 1959, into an Indo-Surinamese Hindu family in Lelydorp, in district Suriname.

Mohamed Irfaan Ali

Guyana's ninth executive President Mohamed Irfaan Ali was born into a Muslim, Indo-Guyanese family at Leonora, West Coast Demarara.