By Janice Nesamani
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
A school trip to UNESCO and the pride that comes with speaking for one’s country on a multilateral platform inspired teenager Prakash Gupta to join the Indian Foreign Services. It’s no small feat to make that dream a reality, as only the top 30-40 students from a pool of roughly a million are selected.
“I ranked 33rd and was lucky to get into the vocation I always wanted,” said Gupta, who today serves as the first Consul General for the new Consulate General of India that he is setting up in Seattle.
Gupta is well-equipped to face the challenge, having represented India in Beijing, Shanghai, at the Indian Mission to the United Nations in New York, and Indonesia, before Seattle.
On handling the delicately nuanced relationship that India and China share, Gupta said, “Every station is a new experience for a diplomat. You have to work out your own equations and see how to best defend the interests of your country.”
Gupta said, “A diplomat’s job is to make sure you convey the right message your government wants to your host country. Whether the host country is a friend or not, does not matter as long as you are able to put your position across. For me, learning Mandarin helped a lot.”
Gupta is bringing that learning mindset to his assignment here. The new Indian consulate in Seattle covers a large geographic area—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.
In the six months he’s been here, he’s already met communities across different states, understood their needs, and has a clear list of priorities.
Counsel General Prakash Gupta
Serving the Indian American community
The most exciting of Gupta’s offerings is a new Indian consulate located in downtown Seattle, scheduled to open in the next six months.
“We are negotiating a lease agreement for a brand-new building in downtown Seattle so it is easily accessible,” Gupta said.
Going a step further, he said, “For the ease of Indian Americans who live on the Eastside, we are opening a visa or passport application center to drop off documents in Bellevue.” This will be a huge relief for Indians in the area, who have had to make the journey or mail documents to San Francisco!
To serve the Indian community here better, he has an open house policy.
“People will have full access to the consul head for any service or redressal of grievance. Details of the open house will be put up on our website. People can bring grievances of any kind and if we can address them, we’ll do that on the spot. If we can’t, we’ll make sure it reaches where it’s supposed to.”
Gupta likes how the Indian community focuses on instilling Indian cultural activities and values in their young kids.
“I would like to compliment the community on what they are doing here. It’s so special.”
To support this, the Consul will soon start hosting Hindi language, yoga, music, and dance classes.
“We hope to get this started by the first week of July,” he said.
Trade and growth opportunities
On his list of priorities is the India-U.S. initiative on critical and emerging technologies that Gupta calls a defining piece of the bilateral relationship. “A lot of work happening in quantum computing, generative AI, and space technologies is in the greater Seattle area. These are tangible things that can benefit India, as well as people here,” Gupta said.
His aim is to get Indian companies in these sectors to collaborate with their counterparts here. An Indian technology delegation is currently being planned for the last quarter of 2024.
Another area of great potential for Gupta is the bilateral diversification of agricultural trade. “Washington state exports a lot of apples to India. There’s also potential for blueberries and cherries,” Gupta said. In addition, Gupta wants Seattle to be able to savor the exquisite taste of Indian mangoes, wake up to the brew of Indian coffee beans, and celebrate with a generous pour of some of the high-end whiskies India is producing.
His third emphasis is on tourism and connectivity.
“Indians are now the second highest outbound tourists globally. We often look at New York and San Francisco, but this part of the U.S. is beautiful and untouched,” Gupta said.
The easiest way to get Indians excited about visiting a certain place is to have it as the setting of a Bollywood movie.
“We are in conversation with Visit Seattle to see how we make Seattle a more sought-after destination,” Gupta said. The impediment, Gupta feels, is a direct flight from Seattle to India. “We hope to overcome that connectivity barrier towards the end of the year with Air India planning a direct flight from Delhi to Seattle.”
In the higher education sector, we want more institutional cooperation between centers of excellence here with those in India.
“The narrative needs to change from Indian students coming here for higher studies to joint research, faculty exchange, and bringing centers of excellence together,” Gupta said.
While he looks at these areas as opportunities to grow, his immediate priority is to set up the consulate, get the office building organized, recruit people locally, get clearances from local government for construction. Quite a full plate.
Indian events
“Indian Americans are a very vibrant, diverse, and excellent group that is contributing locally, but are largely doing things as regional groups. With the coming of the consulate, I’d like all of them to come under the umbrella of an ‘India’ group,” Gupta said.
An example of it would be the India Day Parade at the Seattle Convention Center. Going forward, he wants India Day to be an annual event in Seattle, which becomes a signature event for all Indians living in the greater Seattle area. He hopes to initiate that on Aug. 15 (India’s Independence Day) this year.
Another event to look forward to is the International Day of Yoga, celebrated on June 21, the day of the summer solstice.
“If Seattle weather is kind enough… we plan to host the International Day of Yoga at Chihuly Glass Museum where we invite people to join us. We’re even hosting a curtain raiser event on June 16 at Sculpture Park for about 300 people who can come join us for a morning yoga session and hope to host another one for students at the Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma,” Gupta said.
Gupta’s team is also working with the University of Washington and Seattle University to create an experience called India Culture Week.
“It’s basically celebrating an element of Indian culture for a week—like an Indian Film Festival for a week followed by an Indian Food Festival, then a cultural festival.”
Becoming a Seattleite
While he’s been busy setting up a consulate and running it at the same time, Gupta hasn’t had much time to explore Seattle. However, he does feel this place is special.
“I’ve served in the U.S. before—New York and other places, but Seattle is very unique because irrespective of where you are, this confluence of greenery, water, and mountains is always a stone’s throw from you. I’ve never seen a city that has so much nature blended into your daily life, it’s so positive.”
Gupta appreciates how the Indian community here has established itself while retaining its value systems and culture.
“I’ve visited so many Indian events, which recreate the Indian spiritual experiences the way they are done in India. You’ll be able to practice the Abhishekam, the same way it is done at Tirupati—the full ritual to the last detail is done by the priests in the same way with the same fervor. That was eye-opening.”
Meanwhile, Gupta shares his bucket list with us.
“I have to do the Mount Rainier drill once very soon. We are outdoors people, so once the weather is better, going on a hike, I’m told, is very fun here, and then watching a good Kraken or Huskies game.”