New Delhi: India’s Ambassador to Ireland Radhika Lal Lokesh has said bilateral relations between India and Ireland are expected to reach greater heights with Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s visit to Ireland later this week.
Lokesh said, the Prime Minister, who will first arrive in Dublin tomorrow on the way to the United States, will hold delegation-level talks with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny on matters of mutual interest.
She also said Prime Minister Modi’s visit is expected to strengthen economic and commercial engagement between the two countries.
The ambassador said active discussions are underway between India and Ireland to firm up bilateral agreements in the fields of education, agriculture and science and technology and these issues will be discussed in detail during the talks.
Lokesh said that the trade volume between India and Ireland which is not up to the desired level so far is expected to pace up in the coming years.
She said India exported goods worth 443 million euros last year and several Indian business houses have based their offices in Ireland to access European markets.
Similarly, she said that Ireland is evincing keen interest to invest in India in the fields of food processing, engineering education and medical fields.
The ambassador opined that both countries will have a win-win situation if they synergise their efforts in IT and infrastructure and other sectors.
She further said efforts are underway to take the Make In India campaign to smaller places in Ireland to attract Irish investments into India.
The ambassador said nearly 1500 Indian students are pursuing higher education in Ireland and the number is expected to increase to 5000 in the near future.
Lokesh further said Indian and Ireland have people-to-people contacts since pre-independence times and the Indian diaspora played an important role in the economic development of Ireland in varied capacities. (ANI)