Three International Missions To Be Established by Centre in 2021

Last updated on January 5th, 2021 at 12:22 pm

Three International Missions: In order, India can spread its trade wings further; the External Ministry has now decided to establish a mission each in Estonia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in 2021. This was done after a successful meeting with the Cabinet where the PM Narendra Modi passed the proposal made by the Ministry of External Affairs. 

In an official message explaining the purpose of the establishment such missions, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, “The opening of the missions will help expand India’s diplomatic footprint, deepen political relations, enable growth of bilateral trade, investment and economic engagements. The move will also facilitate stronger people-to-people contacts, bolster political outreach in multilateral fora and help garner support for the foreign policy objectives”. 

The establishment of the missions would also help the diaspora members residing in these countries. In 2018, the government had allowed the establishment of as many as 18 missions, of which not all of could be established successfully. Jaishankar said he looks forward to the speedy establishment of the newly proposed centres and that he hoped the pandemic might not delay the establishment any further. 

Both Paraguay and the Dominican Republic had set up missions in Delhi in 2006. Even Estonia that set up office in 2013, had been awaiting a reciprocal move from the Centre. Outgoing Ambassador from the Dominican Republic Frank Castellanos, who set up the mission 14 years ago and is the longest serving foreign diplomat in Delhi, has repeatedly spoken of the need for more Indian missions in Latin America.

Estonia trade relations have been communicated through the Finland Embassy and the country did not have a designated one in India.