'India in no hurry for post-Brexit deal with UK', says top Indian diplomat in London

India has no urgency to ink a post-Brexit deal with the United Kingdom even if the latter eyes so, the Indian High Commissioner in London - Yashvardhan Sinha - has told POLITICO.

Many pro-Brexit minds in Britain, including Trade Secretary Liam Fox, believes post-Brexit, the UK would be able to forge suitable trade deals with major world economies like India, China and Australia. The Brexiteers feels the UK's membership of the European Union customs union which paves way for a common external tariff, prevents the UK to do trade freely with other parts of the world.

However, Sinha's take that a bilateral trade deal between India and the UK would not be done instantly could leave the Brexiteers a tad disappointed, especially ahead of the April 16 Commonwealth Heads of the Government meeting in London where the prime ministers of both India and the UK would be present.

'UK has to allow more Indian immigrants under free trade deal'

Sinha, who also reiterated his view that India would like to have a deal with the UK that allows Indians an easier access to the UK for work purpose, also expressed a concern that the perceptions about India in the UK were still rooted in the pre-independence era.

In November last year, Sinha had told The Telegraph that the UK would have to be ready to accept more Indian immigrants if it wanted to have a free trade deal with the Asian power. He said he did not talk about unrestricted access but access to people of eminence whose movement would benefit both the countries.

On the upcoming Commonwealth gathering, Sinha said there would be bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Theresa May ahead of the summit but warned that talks with stakeholders about the possibility of a trade deal had to be held before the negotiations for such a deal began, POLITICO reported.

He also said the people of the UK needed to have a newer and wider understanding of India.