IRISH SPRING
Because he became the first-ever immigrant and openly gay prime minister of Ireland, in a strong message for tolerance and openness, when Britain and Europe are dealing with an antiimmigrant backlash
Because his bold stance on gay rights—he revealed his sexual orientation in a January 2015 interview—is said to have played a big role in the predominantly Catholic country voting in favour of same sex marriage later that year
HOMECOMING Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited him to visit India this year along with his family and father Ashok, who hails from Mumbai and moved to Britain to work in a hospital in the 1960s