External Affairs Minister inaugurates Consulate at Manchester; speaking of the shared history between the two countries, he emphasises the accelerated effort being put into free trade pact.
Approaching the end of his official tour of the U.K. and Ireland, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar inaugurated a new Consulate in Manchester on Saturday and visited the Lancashire Cricket Club at the Old Trafford cricket ground. He spoke at both locations of a positive shift and expansion in the India-U.K. relationship.
U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West were among those present.
Mr. Jaishankar said there was nothing more fitting than “to have a Consul General inaugurate her Consulate” on International Women’s Day, referring to India’s new Consul General in Manchester, Vishakha Yaduvanshi.
“We are making up for a lot of things perhaps we could have and should have done earlier,” Mr. Jaishankar said, adding that today’s inauguration was a testament to how the India-U.K. relationship had changed. “It is equally a preparation for what is to come,” he said. “We are clearly anticipating a very big pickup in the relationship in the times to come,” he added.
Mr. Jaishankar emphasised this while speaking to a gathering at the Lancashire Cricket Club, where he highlighted the role of the diaspora. India’s relationship with the U.K. is rooted in history, Mr. Jaishankar said. “That history is a very complex history. All of you understand that,” he added. “Every big, deep, important relationship is a mixed one. I think it’s important to pick the good side, look for the possibilities there,” the Minister said, adding that the problems should and will be addressed.
On Wednesday, a pro-Khalistan demonstrator had rushed in front of Mr. Jaishankar’s car in London, tearing a cloth that resembled the national flag. The government had summoned the U.K.’s Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi and issued a demarche. This was the latest in a series of related incidents that have challenged the relationship’s smooth functioning over the last few years. Mr. Jaishankar had visited the U.K. in November 2023 as part of a reset in bilateral ties.
FTA talks
“In fact, 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 in the free trade agreement (FTA),” Mr. Jaishankar said. He was presumably referring to the geopolitical shifts precipitated by the new foreign policy direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.
At the Consulate in Manchester, Mr. Jaishankar indicated that the FTA was symbolic of the India-U.K. bilateral relationship moving into a higher orbit.
The Minister appealed to universities in Manchester to set up campuses in India. The University of Southampton has already announced that it will soon be enrolling students in its Gurugram campus. Other U.K. universities, seeking to better their financial prospects, have shown an interest in setting up shop in India.
The Minister also announced the launch of a Pravasiya Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (Non-Resident Indian Help Centre) in the U.K., the first in this part of the world.
Mr. Jaishankar suggested that direct flights from Manchester to New Delhi could be imminent. Indigo had announced a direct flight to Amsterdam and Manchester, from India, starting in July 2025.
