India and Ireland have agreed to set up a Joint Economic Commission to increase bilateral trade, investment and technology ties, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced after a meeting with his Irish counterpart in Dublin on Friday.
Jaishankar and Simon Harris also agreed on an action plan to enhance the India-Irish partnership as a highlight of the first visit by an Indian external affairs minister to Ireland and the first high-level political visit from India since the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.
“We discussed our bilateral cooperation, including a new Action Plan to reinvigorate ties. Agreed to set up a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to increase our trade, investment and technology linkages,” Jaishankar posted on social media.
“Exchanged views on the recent developments in our respective regions and globally, including the Ukraine conflict, West Asia, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific. Also spoke about India-EU cooperation and multilateralism,” he said.
The government of Ireland said in a statement that the JEC, once established, will serve as a vehicle to enhance internal cooperation and coordination, and strengthen the “like minded partnership with one of the largest economies in the world”.
“With two-way trade already at €16 billion, we’re committed to strengthening every opportunity for growth, investment, and collaboration,” said Harris.
“I was pleased earlier this week to secure government approval for adoption of an Action Plan for enhancing Ireland’s engagement with India. This is a clear demonstration of Ireland’s commitment to deepening our engagement with India as a key bilateral partner,” he said.
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The Irish minister said the first practical outworking towards this plan was the signing by both ministers of a memorandum of understanding on diplomatic exchange of officials.
“Minister Jaishankar and I also discussed a range of bilateral issues including Ireland and India’s cultural and people-to-people links, our engagement with India as committed members of the European Union and global issues such as Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the situations in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region and common challenges such as climate change,” Harris said.
“We agreed that by working more closely together at the multilateral level, we can better address bilateral and global issues in a mutually beneficial manner,” he added.
Following the dialogue, Jaishankar concluded his Ireland tour with tributes at a memorial to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore at the St Stephen’s Green Park in Dublin.
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He is scheduled to inaugurate new Consulate Generals of India in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Manchester, northern England over Friday and Saturday before concluding his week-long tour of the UK and Ireland.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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