UK Prime Minister welcomes guests from Hindu community to Downing Street

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed guests from the Hindu community to Downing Street ahead of Diwali. "Tonight Prime Minister @RishiSunak welcomed guests from the Hindu community to Downing Street ahead of #Diwali - a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness," as per the UK Prime Minister's office's official handle on 'X'.

Visuals shared by Downing Street on X showed the UK PM and his wife, Akshata Murty, lighting diyas, surrounded by a large number of people who had come to join the celebration. "Shubh Diwali to everyone across the UK and around the world," the post by UK Prime Minister's office said.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights which symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil. This year, Diwali will be celebrated on November 12.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak discussed the progress on the Free Trade Agreement during their telephone conversation.

Sunak also congratulated PM Modi on Team India's strong performance in the ongoing Cricket World Cup. "Turning to the friendship between the UK and India, the leaders discussed recent progress on Free Trade Agreement negotiations. They agreed on the importance of securing an ambitious deal that benefitted both sides," the UK government said in a statement.

India and the UK are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement, talks for which had begun in 2022. The 12th round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took place from August 8-31 this year.

The UK PM affirmed hope of a good performance from the English side during the Test series in India in January next year.

"The leaders discussed the ongoing Cricket World Cup being held in India. The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Modi on the strong performance of the India team and said he hoped England would have more luck during their test series in India in January," the statement added.