Sign of bigger things to come: Jaishankar on new consulate in Manchester

The external affairs minister said it was apt that Vishakha Yaduvanshi takes over her role as India's newest Consul General on International Women's Day

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday inaugurated a new Consulate General of India in Manchester, which he said was symbolic of the importance of the growing diaspora in the region and a sign of things to come, including an India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The external affairs minister (EAM) said it was apt that Vishakha Yaduvanshi takes over her role as India's newest Consul General on International Women's Day, reflective of the strides the government has made in putting women's issues at the centre of policy.

He followed up the official opening of the consulate building in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a celebratory diaspora reception at the Old Trafford stadium, where he interacted with members of the Lancashire Cricket Club's women's team members before they leave for Bengaluru for a pre-season tour next week.

My first visit to Manchester here today, in a formal way, is an acknowledgement of how much this relationship has matured in the last four decades, said Jaishankar.

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, he said.

The EAM was joined at the inauguration ceremonies by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign Office minister in charge of the Indo-Pacific Catherine West.

Our links go back such a long time, with our businesses, our communities, our celebrations, everything that is Mancunian is Indian as well, and we are incredibly proud of that, said Rayner, who is Mancunian as someone born in Manchester and also represents a constituency within the Greater Manchester region.

The opening of the two new Consulate Generals of India Manchester and Belfast mark the concluding leg of the minister's two-nation tour covering the UK and Ireland, which began in London on Tuesday.