New Delhi: A new consulate general, deepening economic engagement, a potential joint economic commission are amongst the topics to be discussed as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s expected visit to the UK and Ireland in the first week of March.
People familiar with the matter highlighted that Jaishankar is set to open a new Indian consulate general in Belfast, Northern Ireland. India currently has consulates in Birmingham and Edinburgh apart from the High Commission in London. India currently maintains an Honorary Consul in the Northern Irish city.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the opening of two new consulate generals in the UK—Belfast and Manchester—during a meeting with the Prime Minister of the UK on the margins of the G20 leaders’ summit in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro last November.
Days ahead of the visit by Jaishankar, India and the UK announced the relaunching of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, which remained suspended for the better part of the last year due to general elections in both countries. Starmer and the Labour Party came into power last July, after nearly 14 years of Conservative rule.
Negotiations for the FTA first began in 2022, during former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to India. While India and the UK were able to close a number of chapters of the agreement early on, a number of issues cropped up which delayed the finalisation of the agreement. Issues regarding access of automobiles to the Indian market, premium alcohol and mobility were some of the hold-ups.
Trade between India and the UK touched $21.33 billion in the 2023-2024 financial year, according to data published by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. India has roughly a $4.5 billion trade surplus with the UK. For the UK, India is an important trading partner, as it looks to recalibrate its trade ties globally following its exit from the European Union (EU).
London faces additional challenges with the presidency of Donald J. Trump in the US. The US and the UK share what former Prime Minister Winston Churchill once described as a “special relationship” fighting a number of wars together starting with World War I in the 20th century, and most recently the War on Terror. However, the Trump presidency in its first month has changed its position on a number of policies, in a shift away from the post-World War II, Western-led order, including the war in Ukraine.
Apart from the visit to the UK, Jaishankar is set to make his first visit to Ireland, a EU member-country, which has recently become an important educational destination for Indian students.
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Talks with Irish foreign minister, potential joint economic commission
Jaishankar is likely to spend at least a day in Dublin, which will be the first high-level visit by an Indian official after Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the country in 2015. The Irish have sent a Ministerial-level delegation to India almost every year for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, except for a time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
People familiar with the matter informed ThePrint that a joint economic commission is a likely outcome of Jaishankar’s visit to Dublin. He is expected to hold hour-long discussions with the Irish Tánaiste (equivalent to Deputy Prime Minister) and Foreign Minister Simon Harris and call on the new Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
The joint economic commission between India and Ireland was first reported by ThePrint last year. The commission is seen as a step towards a strategic partnership between the two countries.
Jaishankar met Harris on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa on 21 February. Trade in goods between India and Ireland has been growing year-on-year, touching $6.38 billion in 2023-2024 from $1.1 billion in 2019-2020, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Trade is skewed in favour of Ireland, with India importing $5.68 billion in 2023-2024, while exporting goods worth roughly $702 million. A number of Indian firms have opened offices in Ireland, including Reliance, Crompton Greaves, Shapoorji Pallonji, Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to name a few.
Ireland has also become an important destination for Indian students, with roughly 12,000 studying in Irish educational institutions. Ireland hosts the second most number of Indian students in the EU after Germany
The Indian community in Ireland numbers approximately 80,000, with around half being non-resident Indians, while around 30,000 are persons of Indian origin (PIO).
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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Ireland is an amazing economic success story. No longer pushing impoverished people abroad to make a better life. In fact, people are moving back, along with the world’s top corporations. Sensible taxation policies part of the mix. Also remained in the EU.