Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar inaugurated the consulate in Mancherster on Saturday and hoped it will strengthen people-to-people, cultural, trade and, of course, cricket ties between the India and the UK.

Writing on X after the inauguration of the consulate, Jaishankar said: "This step delivers on the longstanding desire of our community and friends of India in Manchester."

"This step delivers on the longstanding desire of our community and friends of India in Manchester," he said.

India Sees Free Trade Agreement As a Game Changer

Jaishankar said India sees the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations as a 'game changer'.

"Clearly the free trade agreement is very much at the heart of that in the near term. But we look at the free trade agreement not simply as a trade or even investment understanding between us, but as something much bigger, really a game changer, a symbolic shift to a higher orbit of relationship," he said.

Also Read: S Jaishankar hopes newly opened Indian consulate in Belfast will serve the needs of diaspora

Speaking on the trade shared between Manchester and India, Jaishankar said: "I'm told that the trade with this region is about 700 million pounds, that there are more than perhaps 300 Indian firms here. By the way, my experience is any time I come up with a statistic, somebody corrects me with a larger number. So I came in here with a number for the size of the community, but after hearing you, I decided to keep it to myself."

Jaishankar also opened a consualte in Belfast during this visit to the UK and Ireland.