Jaishankar Inaugurates New Indian Consulate in Manchester

Inaugurating a new Consulate General of India in Manchester, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the mission symbolises the importance of the growing Diaspora in the region and a sign of things to come, including an India-UK Free Trade Agreement.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

"We look at the free trade agreement not simply as a trade or even investment understanding between us, but as something much bigger, really a game changer, a symbolic shift to a higher orbit of relationship," he said.

Mr Jaishankar said his first visit to Manchester, in a formal way, is an acknowledgement of how much the India-UK relationship has matured in the last four decades.

He said he sees the new Consulate as preparing for a very big pickup in bilateral ties. "This is not just an office we have opened, it is really an investment in a relationship on which we have very high hopes. We certainly hope it would spur more trade and investment and education and technology-related activities," he added.