EAM Jaishankar highlights 'focus' of Indian consulate in Belfast

Belfast [UK], March 8 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the newly inaugurated Indian consulate in Belfast, the "meeting point for the UK with the European Union", will not only serve the growing diaspora but also help in exploring economic opportunities.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Jaishankar highlighted the focus areas that the new consulate will serve.

“I think the focus number one is to obviously serve the Indian community which is marked in thousands and growing. Focus number two is to explore the economic opportunities here and we see those opportunities increasing because our ties with the UK are deepening and this is also a meeting point in a way for the UK with the European Union. Focus number three is actually education and technology,” the EAM said.

He highlighted the presence of a number of IT companies there and noted, “We have an important university here, the Queen's University, which has decided to set up a presence in India.”

Elaborating upon the region, Jaishankar said, “This is a part of UK where there's a strong history of manufacturing. There's a lot of industry here. There's a shipbuilding activity here”.

Speaking about the factors which will benefit the India-UK relationship, EAM said, “If the economic cooperation grows, travel becomes easier, the Indian community is assisted and education is increased, I think the benefits to the relationship are very obvious.”

He made the remarks after inaugurating the new Consulate General of India in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday. 

Earlier, in his inaugural address, the EAM noted that when looking around the world, it was very clear that the deepening of the relationship between India and the UK was evident.

"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". 

"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 said in his concluding remarks. 

EAM S Jaishankar is on an official visit to the United Kingdom and Ireland from March 4 to March 9. (ANI)