NEW YORK (TIP): Politicians of Indian origin have of late hit a sweet spot with the addition of Rishi Sunak as the UK’s Prime Minister. Currently, at least nine persons of Indian origin are either heads of state or heads of government. Politicians of Indian-origin taking power is not unusual in a wide swath of developing countries such as Suriname, Singapore, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Malaysia, Fiji and Seychelles. But with the addition of Sunak, politicians of Indian-origin are now heading governments simultaneously in developed countries too such as Portugal, Singapore and now the UK. In Ireland, there will be a PM of Indian origin from December.

Kamala Harris is not a head of state or government but is the first Indian-origin US Vice-President. Mauritius has had nine heads of state of Indian origin and Suriname has had five Presidents from the community. Four heads of state in Guyana and three in Singapore were of Indian descent. In addition, Trinidad & Tobago, Portugal, Malaysia, Fiji, Ireland and Seychelles have chosen an Indian-origin head of state.

Portugal and Ireland have had Indian-origin heads of government in the past.

In Portugal, Alfredo Nobre da Costa became head of government about 40 years ago, followed by Antonio Costa, who ran the government for a year in 2015.

In Ireland, Leo Varadkar was the PM till 2020 and is scheduled to take the post again in December this year.

Portugal: PM António Costa

Mauritius: PM Pravind Jugnauth

Mauritius: Prez Prithviraj Roopun

Singapore: Prez Halimah Yacob

Suriname: Prez Chan Santokhi

Guyana: President Irfaan Ali

Seychelles: Prez W Ramkalawan

Jamaica: PM Andrew Holness

UK: Prime Mininster Rishi Sunak