A leading UK-based Indian-origin entrepreneur has been appointed the new co-chair of the Conservative Party Friends of India (CF India) group.
Rami Ranger, founder of consumer goods company Sun Mark Ltd, will chair the organisation alongside Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, the brother of Jemima Khan.
"I know that under Rami Ranger and Zac Goldsmith's leadership, CF India will go from strength and strength as a valued part of our Conservative family," Prime Minister Theresa May said in a welcome statement.
"The UK would not be the vibrant country that it is today without the enormous contribution of successive generations of British Indians. Conservative Friends of India plays an important role in strengthening the links between our Party and the British Indian community, and in supporting the flourishing friendship between the UK and India," she said.
CF India has the stated aim of building stronger links between the Conservative Party, currently in government, and the British Indian community as well as India.
Ranger, under whose leadership Sun Mark became the only company in the UK to be awarded five consecutive Queens Awards for enterprise, said he plans to use his new role to enhance the involvement of the British Indian community in the political life of Britain.
He said: "I am putting together a new team at CF India which will help me with the required support network to truly allow CF India to capitalise and maximise on the significant and exciting opportunities we have at hand, both in the UK and with greater trade and cultural ties with India as the UK's key Commonwealth partner.
"The relationship between the Conservative Party, and the India diaspora, is the closest it has ever been."