Years after India announced it would open a consulate in Seattle, the government has finally moved to operationalise the consulate in the US Pacific Northwest by appointing a consul general.
Official sources said Prakash Gupta, an IFS officer of the 2002 batch, will be the first consul general in Seattle. He’s expected to travel to Seattle later this month to open the consulate.Gupta handles UN affairs in MEA and has in the past served as the deputy chief of mission in Indonesia and also as the consul general in Shanghai. An official announcement is expected during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue next week.
The opening of the consulate in Seattle, a technology hub that’s home to many Indian nationals and multinational giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and Boeing, was one of the major announcements made by the government during PM Narendra Modi’s landmark state visit to the US in June this year. India had first announced its plan to open a consulate in Seattle in 2016.
India also announced during the visit that it will open consulates in 2 other US cities. The US had also announced that it will open consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
“Concomitant with the rapid growth in our strategic partnership and demand for travel, both sides intend to open new consulates in each other’s countries. The United States intends to initiate the process to open two new consulates in India in the cities of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad,” said the joint statement after the Modi-Biden summit in June. Seattle will be the 6th US city to have an Indian consulate after New York, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta.
Official sources said Prakash Gupta, an IFS officer of the 2002 batch, will be the first consul general in Seattle. He’s expected to travel to Seattle later this month to open the consulate.Gupta handles UN affairs in MEA and has in the past served as the deputy chief of mission in Indonesia and also as the consul general in Shanghai. An official announcement is expected during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue next week.
The opening of the consulate in Seattle, a technology hub that’s home to many Indian nationals and multinational giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and Boeing, was one of the major announcements made by the government during PM Narendra Modi’s landmark state visit to the US in June this year. India had first announced its plan to open a consulate in Seattle in 2016.
India also announced during the visit that it will open consulates in 2 other US cities. The US had also announced that it will open consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
“Concomitant with the rapid growth in our strategic partnership and demand for travel, both sides intend to open new consulates in each other’s countries. The United States intends to initiate the process to open two new consulates in India in the cities of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad,” said the joint statement after the Modi-Biden summit in June. Seattle will be the 6th US city to have an Indian consulate after New York, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta.
