How the world press reacted to Rishi Sunak becoming prime minister

The world has reacted to Rishi Sunak becoming Britain’s new prime minister at the age of 42.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden are among the world leaders who have spoken out about the historic appointment. Mr Biden called it “a groundbreaking milestone”.

Leaders also lauded the significance of Mr Sunak becoming the UK’s first prime minister of colour, as well as the youngest in modern history.

Find out what world leaders have said about Mr Sunak’s appointment as prime minister below.

“Rishi Sunak, a ‘proud Hindu’, is new UK PM,” proclaimed the country’s leading newspaper, The Times of India. It added that his appointment could not have come on a better day than that of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.

In America, The Wall Street Journal said that Mr Sunak’s rise “is one of the more spectacular ‘I told you so’ stories in modern politics”. It added: “Now Mr Sunak will get his shot to show if he can do it better.”

The New York Times said Mr Sunak would “make history as Britain’s first prime minister of colour, a milestone for a polyglot nation that has become more ethnically diverse in recent decades, albeit one roiled by occasional anti-immigrant fervour”.

In Kenya, Mr Sunak’s rise was compared to that of Barack Obama, The Times reported. Mr Sunak’s father was born in Kenya when it was a British colony, and his mother, Usha, was born in Tanzania when it was a British colony called Tanganyika.

Russia sees no reason to expect relations with the UK to improve under Mr Sunak, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

A leading Russian business daily, Kommersant, published the headline: “Premier from the Slums: The story of the first head of British government of colour”, alongside a photo gallery of Mr Sunak’s political career.

Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily, ran its announcement of Mr Sunak’s appointment under the headline “The ‘maharaja of Yorkhshire’ with €800 million (double King Charles’s wealth)”.

La Stampa said: “It is yet to be seen if Sunak will last, or if he will be the third name the Tories throw out.”

Le Figaro described Mr Sunak as “the man who will make a little bit of India enter Downing Street”.

The centre-right daily added: “Beyond the political psychodrama in the Tories and the economic crisis which is shaking the country, the arrival in Downing Street of a man of Indian and Hindu origin is a moment of history.”

The liberal Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel wrote: “The British voters should really have their say now. But the quick correction of an error at least proves the systemic advantage democracy has over autocracies.”

It added that the choice of Mr Sunak “rehabilitates the principle that economic policy must be guided by economic, financial and social realities. And not by wishful thinking”.

China wants to “advance ties with the UK” under Mr Sunak, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. He added: “We hope that we can work with the UK side on the basis of mutual respect and win-win co-operation and advance China-UK relations along the right track.”

Chinese media seized on the rapidly changing nature of British leadership as proof of the UK’s weak political system. A commentary from the official Xinhua news agency wrote: “The chaos in UK politics exposes the differences and confusion within the ruling Conservative Party and, at the same time, shows that the government is no longer effective in governing the nation and the society. This has made British people more and more disappointed in their own democratic system.”

Mr Sunak’s new role was greeted with snipes and satire, the Times reported.

“It’s clear,” quipped Christos Koutras, an anchor on the Skai television network, “Sunak has never paid a bill in his life. But he’ll be serving Britons with hefty ones.”