Opening of 3 Indian Missions in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic

India and the world Foreign Policy of India

01-Jan-21

Context: Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister has cleared the proposal from the Ministry of External Affairs to open three missions in Estonia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in 2021.
Key Points

While the government had announced the opening of 18 missions in 2018, not all of them have been established yet.
Opening of the newly announced missions may be further delayed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Significance

The opening of the missions will help expand India’s diplomatic footprint and deepen political relations. It would bolster political outreach in multilateral fora.
It will enable the growth of bilateral trade, investment and economic engagements.
Enhancement of India’s diplomatic presence will provide market access for companies and bolster exports of goods and services.
It would be instrumental in facilitating stronger people-to-people contacts.
The move would also help the diaspora members residing in these countries.
It would help garner support for the foreign policy objectives.
It would also strengthen ties in trade and cybersecurity.

Additional Information

Estonia

It is a country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.
Capital: Tallin
It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea , to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia.
In 2005 Estonia became the first state to hold elections over the Internet, and in 2014, the first state to provide e-residency.

Paraguay

Capital: Asunción
It is a country in South America.
It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest.
It is a landlocked country.

Dominican Republic