Rishi Sunak jokes on being called 'India's son-in-law', says country 'very near and dear' to him

G20 summit: Akshata Murthy fixes Rishi Sunak's tie before deboarding in New Delhi and meeting officials. (Images: @rishisunakmp/Instagram)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murthy have landed in India for the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

“We’ve landed in Delhi ahead of the G20. We're here to deliver for the British people,” Sunak wrote on Instagram sharing a series of photographs of his arrival. Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey received Sunak and his wife at the airport.

In the photos, Sunak and Murthy are seen greeting the minister, followed by one from inside the plane where the UK First Lady was seen fixing the first British PM with Indian heritage’s tie.

The third one showed the couple posing with several officials.

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Sunak told reporters on his arrival: “I have enormous respect for Modi Ji, and he's been personally very warm and kind to me. And we're working very hard, as I said, on our shared ambition of concluding an ambitious and comprehensive trade deal between India and the UK, because both of us think that would be a good thing and both of us need to make sure it works for our two countries. And at forums like this, I'm very keen to support Prime Minister Modi in making sure that this G20 is an enormous success for India, which I know it will be...”

Sunak had earlier told that the visit to New Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit is "obviously special" and joked about being referred to as the "son-in-law of India". Akshata Murthy is the daughter of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and philanthropist Sudha Murty.

On the flight, the 43-year-old said he was excited to be back in India, "a country that is very near and dear to me".

"I'm heading to the G20 Summit with a clear focus. Stabilising the global economy. Building international relationships. Supporting the most vulnerable," Sunak had tweeted before his journey.

The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations are likely to also feature highly during the Narendra Modi-Rishi Sunak bilateral discussions, having just completed 12 rounds of negotiations but with no set timeframe for its conclusion.