UK PM Rishi Sunak spoke to me in Hindi, Himanta Sarma said. (File)
Guwahati:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday that he was amazed that Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak is attracted to “Indian Sanatan culture” and heritage even though he stays in Britain.
Himanta met Mr Sunak and other G20 heads of state at the grand dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday.
“I got the opportunity to speak with Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak and his wife (Akshata Murthy). We had a general discussion. In spite of being in Britain, he is attracted to Indian Sanatan culture and heritage. He was speaking in his mother tongue Hindi with me and with some other Chief Ministers. This is a proud moment for us,” the Assam Chief Minister said speaking to reporters in Guwahati on Sunday.
The reference to ‘Sanatan’ was a mild slam at the opposition over the ‘Sanatan Dharma’. Recently, Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said in a speech that Sanatan Dharma shouldn’t be opposed but “eradicated”. This stirred a huge political storm in the country with the Bharatiya Janata Party questioning the INDIA bloc leaders over its stand on the issue.
The Assam Chief Minister also spoke to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the dinner for G20 delegates on Saturday.
“I personally got to speak with Singapore Prime Minister. He has an interest in Assam, especially nursing education and skill education,” Himanta said.
Speaking about the G20 Summit, Himanta Sarma said, “This is a historic Summit. Various heads of states participated. For the first time African Union was included in the G20. This was due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The Assam Chief Minister pointed out that given the Russia-Ukraine war, it is usually difficult to get Russia, China and the US on one table. However, he said, that in the G20 Summit at Delhi, all the nations came together and signed the Declaration.
“It is difficult to get America, Russia and China talking on any issue. However, during G20, Russia, China, America, France, and Italy signed the historic Declaration,” Himanta said.
The New Delhi Declaration was adopted by the G20 nations on Saturday.
The Global Biofuel Alliance also came into being during the Summit owing to the leadership of India, Himanta added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the conclusion of the two-day-long G20 Summit on Sunday which saw participation by heads of state of the grouping and heads of international organisations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
