Alex Ellis CMG appointed as the British High Commissioner to India

Alex Ellis CMG has been appointed as the new British High Commissioner to
the Republic of India, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
announced on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The 53-year-old civil servant has been serving as Deputy National Security Adviser in the UK
Cabinet Office for the government’s Integrated Review on diplomacy, development
and defence.

He will be succeeding Sir Philip Barton, who assumed his duties as the
Permanent Under-Secretary of the newly-expanded FCDO.

“Mr Alex Ellis CMG has been appointed British High Commissioner to
the Republic of India in succession to Sir Philip Barton KCMG OBE. Mr Ellis
will take up his appointment during January 2021,” the FCDO said in a
statement.

Ellis is competent in handling security issues and strategy, having
worked as Director General for the UK and European Union (EU) security
partnership. He also managed international agreements with the UK’s closest
partners and domestic and EU engagement on Brexit in the erstwhile Department
for Exiting the European Union (DExEU).

The new British High Commissioner has also served as British Ambassador to Brazil between 2013 and 2017
and as ambassador to Portugal between 2007 and 2010. Ellis was also Director of
Strategy in the Foreign Office, responsible for developing new tools for
improving FCO and government policy.

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Ellis overlooked a plethora of issues, including energy, climate change,
competition, development, trade and strategy as a member of the Cabinet of the
President of the European Commission. He also contributed to the establishment
of zero, the seven year budget and other institutional issues including the
Treaty of Nice.

Ellis has also worked in the British Embassy in Madrid, Spain, and
started his civil service career as part of the team supporting the transition
to multi-party democracy in South Africa, following the release of Nelson
Mandela.