Potential for Indo-Irish trade is huge: Envoy
Yes, our Prime Minister’s father is Indian. He is very proud of this fact. We hope to arrange a visit for him to India. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi invited him when he came to Dublin in September 2015; a very good visit, very business-like. As two glob
Brian McElduff, Ambassador of Ireland to India, speaks in an interview with Aroonim Bhuyan about his experiences in India, historical links between the two nations, the challenges and potential of India-Ireland ties post-Brexit, cultural diplomacy and celebrating Tagore and Yeats. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: India-Ireland interactions go back to the 19th century. During this period, Irish missionaries and educationists also spread out into all regions of India. These links were further strengthened by the connections between the nationalist movements of the two countries since the early years of the 20th century. Today, there are around 34,000 people from India in Ireland, of who 20,500 are persons of Indian origin and around 13,500 are NRIs. How have these connections impacted on bilateral ties?
A: The Irish have been coming to India for a long time, even before the 19th century. Many of them with a sense of adventure came to India; our main legacy issue was setting up the schools. Many of the top schools in India were founded by the Irish. New Delhi was Ireland’s first embassy in Asia before Tokyo or Beijing… We have today a lot of Indians living and working in Ireland very successfully. The profile of the Indian community is mostly all of them are highly educated, well paid, professional people, maybe more like your community in the United States.
Q: Of late, Ireland is becoming a significant destination for Indian students seeking higher education, particularly postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral students in the areas of engineering, technology, medicine, and management. Can you tell us more about this?
A: We have now nearly 4,000 Indian students coming to Ireland, mostly postgraduate. They are not just studying there but they are also getting jobs. We allow people to stay back for up to two years. Ireland is a very happening place. It has longevity with a younger population compared to the most of Europe. There is a lot of business going on, a big hi-tech sector. It depends quite a lot on educated people from India. So, we are gaining a lot from the Indian community in Ireland.
Q: Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is a person of Indian origin. Can you tell us what is his outlook for ties with India vis-à-vis the imminent Brexit? What opportunities does Ireland offer to India post-Brexit?
A: Yes, our Prime Minister’s father is Indian. He is very proud of this fact. We hope to arrange a visit for him to India. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi invited him when he came to Dublin in September 2015; a very good visit, very business-like. As two global economies, the trade situation could be a lot better. It is dominated by services because those are our strengths. Aviation is a real strength; a lot of aircraft are leased from Irish companies. There has been a lot of investment in aviation in India. Your airports are world-class. This is an area in which we can definitely cooperate. In education, more broadly skills, you know, skills and training because people need to get jobs. I noticed that Indians have a taste for whisky particularly. We produce some superb whiskies… Scotch whisky is an excellent product but I think there is room for Irish whisky which is a slightly different product. I think the potential is enormous (for India-Ireland trade). We are adding more resources by opening a consulate in Mumbai and with the high caliber of Indians living in Ireland. If Britain does leave (the EU), Ireland will be the only sizeable EU member state speaking English with a similar legal system with a common law-based system to India. Some investments in UK are moving to EU countries to retain their access to the single market (of EU).
Q: There was a legendary friendship between W.B. Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore. But today's generation hardly knows about it. Any plans of celebrating that literary friendship in order to connect the countries more culturally?
A: I am a great believer in cultural diplomacy. In fact, the Yeats-Tagore relationship was interesting. They were close friends… There is a lot of interest both in literature and music. I have tried to bring some Irish bands here.