US opens new consulate in Bengaluru
The new consulate in the Karnataka capital was inaugurated by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, US ambassador Eric Garcetti, and Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar
The opening of a new US consulate in Bengaluru is one more sign that India and the US are “overcoming the hesitations of history” and the Indian side will soon open a consulate in Los Angeles, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.

The new consulate in the Karnataka capital was formally inaugurated by Jaishankar, US ambassador Eric Garcetti, and Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar. This is the fifth US consulate in India and the third in the southern part of the country after Chennai and Hyderabad. It is also the 12th foreign consulate in Bengaluru.
Jaishankar described the opening of the US consulate as a “great day” for Bengaluru and India-US relations and recalled his interest in the establishment of the mission because of his personal links with the city, which he first visited in 1962.
“In many ways today, the formal opening of this consulate is one more sign that we are overcoming the hesitation of history. I do believe today it is within the realm of possibility that we realise more fully the potential of India-US relations,” he said.
Jaishankar recalled telling Garcetti about two years ago that if the US opened a mission in Bengaluru, India would establish a consulate in Los Angeles. “We will be opening our consulate in Los Angeles fairly soon,” he said.
The absence of a US consulate in the city “was a gap” because of the importance of Bengaluru and Karnakata in the bilateral relationship, Jaishankar said. “When I look at tech, space, defence, I think the case for a stronger presence and leveraging the capabilities of Bengaluru and Karnataka become that much stronger,” he said.
The future of India-US ties lies in areas such as AI, EVs, space, drones, tech, defence, education, and research, and at the same time, the transformation of supply chains is expected to accelerate.
Trusted supply chains will become key to strategic partnerships such as the one between India and the US, and Bengaluru will have a “salient part” in these efforts, Jaishankar said.
Garcetti said the US is expanding its presence in Karnataka as part of the country’s commitment to the state and city. He lauded Jaishankar’s role in pushing a friendship that is a defining relationship in the world today between the US and India.
Garcetti, a political appointee of President Joe Biden who is set to step down with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, told the media Bengaluru “lives and breathes the US-India relationship”. He said, “Whether it’s health, aerospace, jobs, finance, we see the future of US-India here in Bengaluru.”
Asked about concerns in India about the incoming Trump administration adopting stricter immigration policies, including for the H-1B visa programme, Garcetti replied: “We are stronger when we are together. America has benefited from Indian workers, H-1B. We’ve benefited from Indian visitors. We have Indian Americans who are now running states, and universities,” he said. “So to me, the more we can continue this and build on that, the better. That is my message for the future.”
The US consulate will initially operate from a temporary location at JW Marriott Hotel on Vittal Mallya Road, and work on a permanent facility is underway. Garcetti said the consulate will not offer visa services in the first year, though these services are expected to start as soon as possible.
