EAM Jaishankar inaugurates new Indian Consulate in Belfast
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched the new Consulate General of India in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday. He also elaborated on the establishment process of the Consulate and its role in serving the expanding Indian diaspora.
He expressed optimism about finalising the free trade agreement with the UK and the European Union in the near future. “We saw in Belfast a meeting place for our UK policy and our European policy. We could see this had a privileged access to both”, Jaishankar said.
During his opening speech, Jaishankar expressed gratitude to the attendees and discussed how the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has “a significant amount of attention to foreign policy and within that the welfare of the diaspora”.
“One reflection of that was to see where we needed new consulates to cater to the needs of a growing diaspora. That was a broad global objective”, he explained.
Further observing the strengthening relationship between India and the UK, particularly in areas of economy, technology, and people-to-people connections, he said, “We could see the people of the Indian community also increasing in numbers, so it made great sense that after we came back into government to move very early to set up a consulate, and when we looked at the UK, we also looked a little bit ahead”. “When we looked at the history of Belfast and this region… it made eminent sense to take the call,” he added.
Giving details on the consulate launch, he revealed that within six weeks of the Modi government‘s re-election in 2024, he presented the consulate proposal to the cabinet.
TheEAM emphasised the government’s focus on diaspora welfare and the consulate’s role in advancing this objective. “We do think that we can use this consulate as a way of pursuing our twin engagements with the UK and Europe as a whole and of course very much in support of this region’s aspirations and most of all in the service of our community”, he concluded.
EAM S Jaishankar is conducting an official visit to the United Kingdom & Ireland from March 4 to March 9.
