London, Mar 8: Conflicts are a dominating issue today and India has taken a view that differences must be settled through dialogue and diplomacy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in an address at University College Dublin in Ireland.Jaishankar went on to cover a range of foreign policy issues and referenced the June 1985 Air India aircraft terrorist bombing to highlight a shared India-Ireland perspective on counterterrorism.
The external affairs minister (EAM) noted that the Irish village of Ahakista in West Cork commemorates the 329 victims of the Kanishka bombing disaster, which occurred off the coast of Ireland.
“A particular word about conflicts because it is today a very dominating issue where India is concerned; we have always taken the view that differences in this era cannot and should not be settled on the battlefield,” Jaishankar said.
He was addressing students, academics and members of the diaspora at the leading Irish research institution on the topic of ‘India’s view of the world’ on Thursday.
“It is important to have dialogue and diplomacy, to find ways of sitting down and talking, however difficult it is. It’s not that we have very specific prescriptions here,” he said.
“Talking about conflict, perhaps a word on countering terrorism would also be appropriate, particularly as a foreign minister of a country which has long been at the receiving end of terrorist efforts.
“Ireland actually happens to have in the village of Ahakista a commemorative plaque which commemorates the 329 victims of the Air India aircraft Kanishka bombing which happened off the coast of Ireland. It’s always a reminder that this is a perennial challenge which needs to be dealt with a great deal of resolution and commitment overall,” he added.
The minister went on to highlight India’s “decades of about 7 per cent plus minus growth ahead,” which opens up the prospect of greater alliances with friendly nations such as Ireland, a member of the European Union (EU).
With reference to the ongoing India-EU trade negotiations, he said: “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.”
The EAM highlighted the historic connections between India and Ireland and the strength of the bilateral relations, with nearly 13,000 Indian students enrolled at Irish universities.
“Economically today, we have a very robust level of trade. It’s currently estimated at about 16 billion Euros… and what’s interesting with Ireland is that actually our trade in services exceeds our trade in goods by a large margin,” he said.
“Education, as is evident, has been 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 are closer to 13,000… making really a very serious contribution to Ireland’s national development,” the minister said.
He also noted former president V V Giri’s association with University College Dublin where he studied law in 1913-16.
“As the world transitions into a different phase, I think it’s important for all of us to nurture our cultural attributes, to understand their full value, to factor it in as we develop our own identity. And I think there are learnings that we have from each other,” he said.
From the university, the EAM went on to address an Indian community gathering organised by the Embassy of India in Dublin, where he hailed the success and impact of the Indian diaspora.
The interaction on Thursday followed his meetings with Irish President Michael D Higgins and former Irish prime minister of Indian heritage Leo Varadkar among other government ministers.