New York, Sep 22 (PTI): India will open two new consulates in Boston and Los Angeles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, meeting the long-pending demand of the fast-growing Indian American community in these two large American cities.

While Boston is considered as the education and pharma capital of the US, Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, is hosting the next summer Olympics and current US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti is the city’s former mayor.

“Friends last year, I had announced that our government had plans to open a new consulate in Seattle. It is now operational. I had asked for suggestions from you for two more consulates. I am happy to announce that after reviewing your suggestions, India has decided to open two new consulates in Boston and Los Angeles,” Modi announced during his address to Indian Americans in New York's Nassau Veterans Coliseum.

India currently has six consulates in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Seattle. The Embassy is in Washington DC. The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is based in New York City.

The announcement was immediately welcomed by the residents of Los Angeles.

“The Modi government listens and responds to the needs of Indian Americans and of American business and political leaders. I am grateful to Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and former Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Sandhu for the decision to open a consulate in Los Angeles,” Gunjan Bagla, CEO of Amritt Inc, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm, told PTI.

Bagla had led an effort in this regard. “We obtained over 3,600 signatures from Southern California residents. Dozens of American and Indian American organisations wrote letters to the Prime Minister’s Office,” he said.

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States and its twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle about 40 per cent of all overseas goods trade in the United States .

With the growing global importance of the Indo-Pacific, Los Angeles is the capital of the Pacific Rim and India needs to be present here.

“All but one of the G20 countries have consulates here in Los Angeles. American business executives with an interest in India will feel more engaged with a local consul general representing India. While we have been blessed with Consul General Dr Srikar Reddy visiting us from San Francisco dozens of times in the last year, there are numerous local events where the absence of India is clearly felt. NRIs and Indian Americans will benefit in the case of emergency travel needs to India by not having to fly to San Francisco,” Bagla said. PTI LKJ GSP GSP

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