Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday and congratulated him on completing 25 years in public service, while praising the growing partnership between India and the United Kingdom.
In a post on X, Sunak recalled working with Modi during his tenure as British Prime Minister and commended his commitment, energy and work ethic, describing them as an example for others to follow.
He said bilateral relations were strengthening under Modi’s leadership and emphasised the importance of closer cooperation in trade, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) amid an increasingly unpredictable global environment.
“Congratulations on 25 years in public service, a remarkable achievement. It was a pleasure to work with you when I was Prime Minister. Your commitment, your work ethic, your energy is an example to us all,” Sunak wrote.
He added that the UK-India relationship was “going from strength to strength” and expressed confidence that the two countries would continue to deepen their partnership in the coming years.
Earlier in the day, Sunak highlighted the shifting dynamics of global power, saying countries such as India and those in the Gulf were increasingly able to pursue independent foreign policy and economic strategies rather than align themselves consistently with the United States or China.
Speaking during a panel discussion titled “The End of Predictability” at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 in New Delhi, Sunak said the world was moving away from the multilateral, rules-based framework that had shaped the global economy, creating significant geopolitical uncertainty.
He argued that US President Donald Trump was a symptom, rather than the cause, of this transformation. “We all grew up investing in, operating in a multilateral rules-based framework,” Sunak said, adding that the current international environment had created considerable uncertainty and danger.
He also described China’s emergence as a peer competitor to the US across economic, military and technological domains as a defining feature of the changing global order.
“Countries like India, like the Gulf, now are able to chart their own course. They’re not going to always agree with the US or China. They’re going to do what they want, and that’s a new feature,” he said.
