India to Open New Consulate in Seattle, USA After Seven-Year Wait

India is on the verge of establishing a new consulate in Seattle, USA, after approximately seven years since the initial announcement of this plan. A joint statement issued following discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington in June reaffirmed India's intention to operationalize its new consulate in Seattle later this year. It's expected that Prakash Gupta, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 2002 batch, will serve as the Consulate-General in Seattle, a city renowned for its prominence in the technology sector. The consulate is slated to become operational by the end of this month.

Prakash Gupta, the designated Consulate-General, is presently working as a joint secretary in the United Nations Political Division at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). India's plan to establish a consulate in Seattle was initially disclosed back in 2016.

The joint statement from June outlined the intentions of both India and the United States to open new consulates in each other's countries as part of their growing strategic partnership. The United States expressed its commitment to initiate the process of opening two new consulates in India, specifically in the cities of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. India, in turn, was poised to operationalize its new consulate in Seattle and open two additional consulates in locations jointly identified in the United States, as outlined in the joint statement.