The Indian diaspora in Manchester was out in full force to celebrate the fruition of its long-standing demand as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, on a visit to the UK last week, inaugurated a brand-new Consulate General of India.
The minister said the new Indian presence in the region was in preparation of a new era of growth in bilateral relations, which benefit immensely from the strength of the Indian community.
Dr Jaishankar said: "I would also urge you to think of this consulate as really preparing for that era. We are clearly anticipating a very big pickup in the relationship in the times to come.
“But, and I want to say this with great emphasis, it is equally a preparation for what is to come – a much deeper, closer partnership between India and the United Kingdom. Clearly, the Free Trade Agreement is very much at the heart of that in the near term. But we look at a Free Trade Agreement not simply as a trade or even investment understanding between us, but as something much bigger, really a game changer, symbolic shift to a higher orbit of relationship.”
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Jaishankar held talks with UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, a member of Parliament from the region who has been pushing for the Consulate and also direct flights connecting India and Manchester. The event was also attended by UK Foreign Office Minister Catherine West.
The inauguration was followed by a celebration reception with Lancashire County Cricket Club at the city’s iconic Emirates Old Trafford stadium.
The minister add: "When we see the direction of the world today, I would say that the case for deepening these ties gets stronger, not weaker. And one current expression of that is the sort of accelerated effort that we are putting into the Free Trade Agreement.
“Today, I am cautiously optimistic about the prospects. I'm cautious about everything in public."
He also went on to draw a parallel between sports and diplomacy, highlighting the discipline, diligence, and creativity required in both fields.
"I've always been fascinated by the analogy, by the connection between sports and diplomacy; between sports and politics. I think there is a discipline there, there's a diligence there. There's creativity there that is not dissimilar," he said.
The Manchester opening came soon after another new Consulate General of India – in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“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," Dr Jaishankar said at the event, also attended by community leaders.
The Minister noted that the expanding diplomatic footprint is symbolic of how diaspora welfare has been a priority of the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(*With ANI Inputs)
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