India, March 9 -- India's two new consulates at Belfast in Northern Ireland and Manchester in Britain have been inaugurated by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who said the missions will help deepen trade and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

Inaugurating India's fourth consulate in the UK at Manchester on Saturday, Jaishankar said the Indian side is making up for a lot of things it should have done earlier since it has been almost 40 years since New Delhi last opened a consulate in Britain. Besides the high commission in London, India had consulates in Edinburgh and Birmingham.

The new consulates are part of steps to enhance relations between the two sides, which are expected to get a boost with the finalisation o...