External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday discussed India’s growing alignment with Europe and emphasised the nation’s economic progress at University College Dublin.
Speaking on “India’s view of the world” on Friday, Jaishankar referenced the recent visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and 21 Commissioners to India. He noted the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between India and the EU, spanning nearly 23 years, expressing optimism about finalising it by year-end.
“The second aspect of it is, of course, Ireland as a member of the European Union. And here we have been negotiating and I’m afraid we’ve been negotiating quite long, almost 23 years now for a free trade agreement. We just had a visit of the EU president with 21 commissioners to India, and we are perhaps a little bit more hopeful now that this exercise would be brought to an end, ideally by the conclusion of this year. Now, I do want to share with you all our view that we find today increasing convergences with Europe as India becomes a bigger economy. We are the fifth currently, we will be the third definitely by the end of this decade. There is a lot that we see going on with Europe, and again Ireland as an integral part of that, would obviously reap the benefits,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar highlighted the substantial trade relations between India and Ireland, noting that leading companies from both nations have established operations in each other’s territories.
Discussing bilateral relations, Jaishankar stated, “Economically today we have a very robust level of trade, it’s currently estimated at about 16 billion pound, I suspect it’s a little larger and what’s interesting with Ireland is that actually our trade in services exceeds our trade in goods by a large margin, and that’s really for us quite unusual. And obviously derives from the nature of the Irish economy. Now leading companies of both nations in various domains have established a presence in each other’s economies. Many of our IT majors are here. I think most of you know that some of our pharma companies are here, and I would say many of the household Irish names in terms of business have a long-established presence in India as well.”
He discussed the growth in tourism between the nations and expressed hope for more accommodating visa policies. He noted active diplomatic mechanisms between the two countries.
He remarked, “Tourism between us is growing, our last figures for Irish tourists was about 44,000. And we certainly hope that a more friendly visa policy. Ambassador, please note by Ireland could see an increased flow of Indian tourists as indeed they go to many other international destinations. Education as is evident is I think being a really promising area of exchanges. I came into Ireland with the belief that we had about 10,000 students here. I was told the numbers today closer to 13,000. And I do want to say this has been the subject of some initial conversations even today. Today again the numbers, the latest numbers I have is about 100,000. I think it’s making really a very serious contribution to Ireland’s national development.”
Jaishankar acknowledged the efforts of successive Irish governments to enhance working and living conditions. He stated, “From a diplomatic standpoint, I can confirm that our various mechanisms are active, key agreements are in place, and overall I think there’s a good reason for us to feel good about the relationship, but yet be alert to the possibilities of how much more there is that we can do together.”
Regarding India’s development, Jaishankar said, “Now, there are two thoughts which I think it’s important for people in Ireland to understand about India, particularly as we contemplate our future ties, one that today India is on a trajectory where it has, I would say decades of about 7 per cent plus minus growth ahead of it and that will create a new volume of demands a different pattern of consumption.”
“Obviously, a higher quality of life of of economic capabilities and it’s visible in India in very different ways. I mean whether it’s the number of airports we are building, we’re building on average about 7 airports a year, the growth in our highways, we are laying about 28 to 30 kilometres of highway a day. The fact even in education, you know that there have been almost 7000 new colleges which have come up in India in the last decade. So, there is a lot that is happening in India. There’s in India that is changing, which will be a very bigger presence in the global economy and certainly for a country like Ireland that is something which is worth noting,” he added.
He shared his personal connection, stating, “As I was preparing for this visit, it struck me, how complex our history meaning that between India and Ireland actually is. On the one hand, Ireland was very much a part of the British colonial rule of India. Irish were present in the administration, military, medical, railways, engineering, education, Irish missionaries and as I said, educationists spread across the length and breadth of India. And I myself did my early education in a school called St Patrick’s School. It doesn’t come more Irish than that in Chennai.”
He emphasised Ireland’s influence on India’s independence movement and mentioned Irish-origin individuals like Annie Besant and Sister Nivedita who contributed to India’s freedom struggle.
Discussing parallels in decolonisation, he noted, “Having said that, Ireland’s struggle for freedom was also an inspiration, a very powerful inspiration for India and for our national movement. There was a very strong sense of parallel endeavours and it’s interesting if you know any of you, bother to look at the Wikipedia on India-Ireland relations. One of the first things which pop up there is actually a lecture by Eamon de Valera on India and Ireland and what’s really interesting is he’s speaking before a group called Friends of Freedom for India in New York. And that he was talking about India in New York and I think this is as early as 1920. I think that is a statement in itself. Now, there were a number of people of Irish origin who were associated with our fight for freedom. I think Annie Besant stands out, as does sister Nivedita, perhaps not so well known here, but certainly in India.”
“And it is a fact that many of the leading figures of that period in India were actually in touch with their Irish counterparts. The most prominent, of course, relationship was that between our national poet Ravindranath Tagore and the introduction to his Nobel Prize winning work Gitanjali was actually written by WB Yeats. Now this is not just a historical or even a sentimental point that I’m making. From our perspective, one of the outcomes of having similar experiences is a degree of empathy on contemporary issues. When we speak today in India about the concerns of the Global South, our expectation is that Ireland, more than many others in this part of the world will display an understanding and support. The second commonality between us is of course the global diaspora, not all of this was entirely voluntary for Indians in its early years but that is a foundation that has been built upon today to explore the opportunities of a global workplace,” he added.
He emphasised both nations’ commitment to international law and cooperation.
Jaishankar stated, “A third aspect is actually the internationalism that is inbuilt into our outlook. In India, we speak of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam‘ that the world is a family, which is very much, a sort of a, a tradition, and in many ways, it encapsulates the fundamental openness of our society. And certainly the experience of our independence struggle has revived a strong solidarity with others in a similar predicament, and this internationalism, in fact, leads us to the next step, which is multilateralism, willingness to work with other nations in a very structured format, especially in the United Nations but and I do believe that our struggle for freedom, the fact that we both were international at that time in terms of looking for allies and supporters and well wishers that even today I think continues to shape our view of the world and our belief that countries should work with each other to deal with the important issues of our times.”
“So, I can assert it with some confidence that we are two countries who do believe in the need for a world order in respect for international law, and we do value international regimes and cooperation. For that very reason, it’s essential that such regimes are contemporary, they are fair, they are non-discriminatory, and today I think the nature of the international system itself is an important subject of conversation between countries like India,” he added.