Prioritising consulate in Gujarat caused delay in establishing one in Bengaluru: K’taka Minister

Bengaluru, Jan 16 (IANS) Karnataka Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Priyank Kharge stated on Thursday that prioritising a consulate in Gujarat caused a delay in establishing one in Bengaluru.

The Consulate will be dedicated to the city of Bengaluru on January 17 (Friday) by the US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti.

Minister Kharge stated, “The decision to establish consulates is made by the respective governments based on the economic significance of a city, not on the whims or personal preferences of BJP MPs or the External Affairs Minister.”

“I am confident that External Affairs Minister Mr S. Jaishankar, who served the nation as an officer for 38 years across various regimes (mostly under Congress governments), would agree with this,” Kharge maintained.

Bengaluru has always been the natural choice for a US consulate, given its thriving ecosystem for investments and trade that mutually benefits the US and India, he stated.

“Perhaps BJP MPs and S. Jaishankar should make honest reels about how pressure from the ‘Supreme Leader’ to prioritise a consulate in Gujarat caused the delay in establishing one in Bengaluru,” he taunted referring to the reel made by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya in the office of Jaishankar thanking him for granting US Consulate in Bengaluru.

Also, BJP MPs should stop misleading people. While the Consulate will be opened soon, it will be only to service Americans and will take a while before they start processing visas from here, he said.

Ahead of the US Consulate opening in Bengaluru, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday met with EAM Jaishankar and presented him with traditional Mysuru Pak sweets. Surya expressed gratitude to the Central government for facilitating the consulate in Bengaluru.

While the Consulate officials are yet to be named and the location too is yet to be revealed, it has been reported that the Consulate would initially function with a limited number of officers from the JW Marriott Hotel on Vittal Mallya Road, before moving to a permanent office.

Late on Wednesday evening, Bengaluru South MP Surya posted a video with the Foreign Minister welcoming the US Consulate. “It’s been made possible only and only because of PM Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s efforts. What better way to thank our EAM than with our own Mysuru Pak!” the video caption read.

He further said: “Bengaluru having a US Consulate will benefit lakhs of students from the city. The city is the country’s IT capital and home to many multinational companies. The Consulate will boost commerce and trade between the two countries and smoothen travel for businessmen and entrepreneurs. I thank the Modi Government for promoting the interests of Bengaluru at every given opportunity and fulfilling a long-pending request.”

In March 2023, Surya sought Jaishankar’s support for the US Consulate in Bengaluru. Back then, Jaishankar had said: “Since you have put it so strongly and repeatedly, I assure you that the next time I meet Mr Anthony Blinken (then the US Secretary of State), I will hammer home that message with at least as much force as you have done (right now).”

Back in November 2019, Surya had met Jaishankar with a written request for a US consulate in Bengaluru.

“There are around 750 Multi-National Companies situated in Bengaluru with about 370 of them headquartered in the United States. Bengaluru and Karnataka together account for a large pool of students and businessmen travelling to the United States. Having a fully functioning US Consulate in Bengaluru rather than the existing virtual consulate would be convenient for at least half a million people of Karnataka and would also ease the burden on the Consulates in Chennai and Hyderabad,” he had written in a letter dated November 18, 2019.

He had also placed a request in March 2020 with the then-US Ambassador to India, Dr Kenneth Juster.

Bengaluru had been demanding a US Consulate for long with Surya persistently following up on the demand since being elected an MP in 2019. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in June 2023, it was announced that the US would open two new consulates — Bengaluru and Ahmedabad — and India would establish a mission in Seattle.

–IANS

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