On 26 September 2019, on the margins of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the Foreign Minister of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Foreign Minister of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The Ministers discussed the political dialogue between Latvia and India, During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs invited his counterpart to come to Latvia on a visit, and also nudged India in the direction of opening an embassy.
"Over the past five years the political relations of Latvia and India have gathered momentum, and that in this light Latvia is interested in maintaining the positive dynamic and strengthening the dialogue. The opening of an Embassy of India in Riga as well as active exchanges of high-level visits would allow for a further intensification of relations between countries," said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We have established quite good cooperation already in the area of exporting our education, and see a substantial increase in the number of students from India attending universities and institutions of higher education in Latvia," the statement said.
A similar suggestion about opening an Indian embassy was made back in 2017, as reported by LSM at the time, but it has yet to happen.
Diplomatic relations betwen Latvia and India are developing rapidly at present, with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu a recent visitor. However, Indians residing in Latvia must currently liaise with their embassy in Sweden.
