Speaking at the India-UK business outreach trade and investment alliances program in New Delhi, Ellis said, "India and UK need to work together because India will grow fast overtaking the UK to become the third largest economy by the end of this decade."
He said that the UK has left the European Union as an opportunity to write its own rules which can work well with India as there is political will and PM Modi had a good conversation with the UK PM Liz Truss about a week ago.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has also said that both the UK and India are working toward the Diwali deadline for the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA).
He mentioned Queen Elizabeth II's demise and said "as we are expanding our engagements, the UK is at a cusp". In August, the fifth round of FTA negotiations between the two nations came to a close.
"Two days ago, I received a letter from the UK again reiterating that they want to stick to the Diwali deadline (for the India-UK Free Trade Agreement)," Goyal said at an event on September 20 in New Delhi.
If India doesn't participate with the global economy, it will be "the losers" in terms of its engagements and efforts to achieve self-reliance, according to Piyush Goyal, adding that no force can prevent India from becoming a developed country in the following 25 years.
The FTA between India and the United Kingdom is expected to be completed by Diwali 2022, according to Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India. He claimed that, over the course of the next 25 years, the pact will boost jobs and contribute to India's economic progress.
On being asked if it could be a "Diwali Dhamaka", Ellis nodded, saying, "I hope so."
"I think we have high ambition on completing the FTA by Diwali. The FTA will create more jobs, more growth, and more opportunities for India to grow and develop," the UK High Commissioner added.
(With ANI inputs)
