What does a new consulate in Seattle say about U.S.-India relations?

Seattle may never have an embassy row that compares to Washington D.C., but a new player is entering the city's diplomatic community: India.

The State Department and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a new consulate in Seattle, underscoring the city's position as a hub for Indian immigrants.

We don't know exactly when or where the new Indian consulate will open, but this announcement does represent a step forward in U.S.-India relations, said Katherine Hadda, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a D.C.-based think tank. She's also a prior senior diplomat who most recently served as U.S. consul general in Hyderabad, India.

To Hada, consulates are the "unsung heroes" of global democracy. They're vital to the operation of any diplomatic mission, and provide a number of services, like helping with passport renewals and investment issues.

"They'll facilitate investments between the two countries, maybe by hosting a business delegation...from their home country to that consulate, so they can see what the local opportunities might be," Hadda said. "And they all just engage on a lot of people-to-people activities, demonstrating and hopefully strengthening the value of the bilateral relationship."

There is a practical component to the opening of this new consulate, Hadda added. After all, Seattle is home to a significant Indian population, and the closest Indian consulate is in San Francisco. That means they have to cover a region stretching from Alaska out to Hawaii and Guam, Hadda said.

"This will make it a lot easier for their diplomats to engage."

Beyond the practical concerns around serving the diaspora of Indians living in Puget Sound, there's also a symbolic aspect to this announcement.

"It means it's a vote of confidence and an investment in the relationship. Because it is time-consuming and expensive to open up the consulate to staff, it means you have confidence that not only will overall relations continue to grow, but that those relations are going to be broadening, not only in subject matter but in geographical location," Hadda said.

Opening an Indian consulate in Seattle will potentially make life a lot easier for many Indians working and living in the Pacific Northwest, like Vignesh, who lives in Bothell and works at Microsoft Vignesh asked KUOW not to publish his last name, citing privacy concerns related to his Canadian permanent residency application.

Vignesh has had to travel to San Francisco to take care of a residency visa application, and he said it can be an expensive trip.

"For me and my wife, we paid at least $350 each for flight tickets, and around $250 per night per hotel stays. Just for your flights and hotels, it definitely is around $1,000," Vignesh said.

Vignesh said it's not uncommon for an appointment at the consulate to be canceled or rescheduled; that means another night at the hotel. Or, you might go to the consulate and be asked for additional documents you didn't bring, which would require going back to Seattle and then making yet another trip to San Francisco.

Besides not having to travel as far to replace a missing passport or handle an application, Vignesh said the opening of this new consulate would have an emotional impact.

"It would be a great confidence booster, I would say, because you know that is some entity from your home country that has presence in the...city in the United States where you're living, where you can stop by to get any miscellaneous services — if not for visas and passports, even to get a power of attorney, to get a police verification certificate, or other any other immigration documents," Vignesh said. "And if there is any emergencies back home or here, you always have somebody who you can immediately reach out to to get the support."

Correction notice: The audio version of this story states that Vignesh traveled to San Francisco to renew his H-1B visa. Vignesh traveled to the Indian consulate in San Francisco to get his Indian police verification letters for his Canadian permanent residence application. We apologize for the error.