Mr. Raminder Singh Taneja, Chief Operating Officer of BLS International Services Limited, Representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, My colleagues from the Embassy,

Ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning everyone.

I am pleased to be here at the inauguration of the new India Visa Application Centre operated by BLS International Service Limited. At the outset, I must commend the BLS Team for setting up the Centre in a short time of only two weeks.

2. The Centre at Guangzhou was inaugurated yesterday and the Centre at Shanghai will be inaugurated tomorrow. All three Centres will commence operations from Monday, 18 March, 2013.

3. China is India’s largest trading partner. Our business and investment engagements with China are growing every day. Increasingly, large numbers of Chinese people are travelling to India on business. Equally gratifying is the fact that more and more Chinese people have also started looking at India as their preferred tourist destination. It is, therefore, natural that the role and importance of our visa applications centres will also grow manifold. You are going to be the interface for not only the Embassy and Consulates, but for our country as well. The quality of services offered by the Centres’ staff will go a long way in creating a positive first impression about our country.

4. I hope that BLS will ensure world class service delivery to visa applicants at their centers. I wish BLS and its local partners all the very best.