New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended his congratulations to Simon Harris, who became Ireland’s youngest premier at 37 years of age, following the surprise resignation of his predecessor, the openly gay and Indian-origin Leo Varadkar. Harris will now take over as the head of Ireland’s three-party coalition government led by the centre-right Fine Gael party and was already poised to replace Varadkar.
The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach. Varadkar announced his resignation on March 20 due to “personal and political reasons” and said he had no future plans, apart from remaining in parliament as a backbench lawmaker.
“Congratulations @SimonHarrisTD on becoming youngest ever Prime Minister of Ireland. Highly value our historical ties that are based on shared belief in democratic values. Looking forward to work together to further strengthen India- Ireland bilateral partnership,” said PM Modi on X.
