India–Ireland relations
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India–Ireland relations (; ), also known as Irish–Indian relations or Indo-Irish relations, are the
bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
between India and Ireland. As former possessions of the British Empire, the two countries had a similar fight against a common adversary and there were many ties between the respective independence movements in the two countries. Many of the provisions of the constitution of India were drawn from their Irish counterpart, the Constitution of Ireland. There are also regular governmental visits. Indo-Irish relations were also strengthened by people like of Jawaharlal Nehru, Éamon de Valera, Rabindranath Tagore,
W B Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became ...
, James Joyce,
Sister Nivedita Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She was ...
and
Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...
.


Emerging relations

During the struggles for freedom from colonial rule, Indian and Irish "nationalist movements were linked by a history of rebellion against British rule." Studies have often compared to the two independence struggles. Independence leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Éamon de Valera were said to be in touch with each other. Likewise Vithalbhai Patel and
Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
were also said to be in touch with Irish nationalist leaders. The strongest tie between the two was the link of
Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...
, from an Irish family but firm supporter of Indian
self rule __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
.India-Ireland_Relations
Mea.gov.in
In 1916 she launched the Home Rule League to model Indian independence on the Irish struggle. Both countries held economic, political, and strategically important ties to the British empire. In both cases, the independent struggles led to other movements within the British empire for independence (while even other European empires like Angola were motivated by moves such as India in defence against European imperialism). A sixteenth century proverb said "he who would win England, must with Ireland begin;" this was matched by Lord Curzon's "As long as we rule India we are the greatest power in the world. If we lose it we shall drop straight away to a third rate power." Lord Salisbury continued, perhaps prophetically, that "Ireland must be kept like India by persuasion if not by force." The aim to progress Irish Catholics and Indian Muslims and Hindus served to promote the cultural nationalisms and autonomous demands of both nations. A significant number of Irish people joined the
Imperial Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
and the Indian Army during the nineteenth century. Prominent Irish civil servants and military officers in India include
Sir Michael O'Dwyer Michael Francis O'Dwyer (28 April 1864 – 13 March 1940) was an Irish Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer and later the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India, between 1913 and 1919. During O'Dwyer's tenure as Punjab's Lieutenant Gove ...
and Colonel
Reginald Dyer Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was an officer of the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began serving briefly in the regular British Army before tra ...
, both of whom were directly responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in
Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...
, where troops under Dyer's command fired into a crowd of non-violent protestors, killing 379 people and wounding thousands. Additionally, Irish missionaries, educationalists, medical and engineering service professionals were also posted in India during this period.


Formal relations

Mutual recognition occurred in 1947, upon Indian independence, while diplomatic exchange opened later. India established an embassy in Ireland in 1951, while Ireland did the same in 1964. William Warnock became Ireland's first ambassador to India that year. To mark the occasion, that same year at Irish president Éamon de Valera's insistence, the Indian president
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...
visited Ireland. Ireland maintains Honorary Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and
Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
.


Extravenous ties

The bombing of Air India's ''Kanishka'' on 23 June 1985 led to a further bond of ties beyond the political arena. In this the families of Indians and
NRI NRI or Nri may refer to : * Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century * National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school * National Resources Inventory * N ...
s were tied with Ahakista and County Cork. An elegant memorial in the village stands as a testimony to these ties; while the opening of an ''Éamon de Valera Marg'' in the Indian capital also fostered these ties.


Irish philanthropy

Some €5m was said to be being spent in India each year. A substantial proportion of the funding was said to be channelled through some of the large Irish NGOs, including
Trócaire Trócaire (, meaning "compassion") is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. History The roots of the charity lie in Pope Paul VI's 1967 encyclical ''Populorum Progressio'',
, Goal and Concern, and agencies that augment the
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funds from their own resources to implement large-scale programmes where they focus, such as Odisha and West Bengal. Further portions of the funds were granted to a second category of Irish and international NGOs to fund stand-alone projects and programmes through the Civil Society Fund. An increasing level of resources was also earmarked by the
Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...
for supporting the work of indigenous civil society within the country. The Irish embassy was also said to be pursuing a range of initiatives and strategies to ensure that resources produced maximum outcomes in terms of efforts to reduce poverty in some of the poorest parts of India. Amongst the highlighted social issued in India, one NGO, using Irish Aid funds, developed
wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...
at girls’ schools; this supported the twin aims of providing clean water and promoting education for the girl-child.


Economic relations

Total trade between the two countries went from €363.5 million in 2005 to €447.3 million in 2007. Indian exports (having been higher in at least the accounted period) counted for €279.8 million to Indian imports of €167.5 million in 2007. Indian exports included garments and clothing, textile yarn, and medical and pharmaceutical products. Indian imports included telecommunications and sound equipment, automatic data processing machines, and other manufactured articles. Indian companies Ranbaxy Laboratories, Wockhardt Group and Reliance Life Sciences in the pharmaceutical industry; with
TCS TCS may refer to: Organisations * Tata Consultancy Services, an IT company headquartered in India * Taxpayers for Common Sense, a US nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization * TCS Courier, a Pakistani courier service * Touring Club Suis ...
and other IT companies in the relevant field. Irish companies in India were much broader with IT services, banking video gaming, oil exploration, media outlets, the Met Pro Group, property companies, cement companies, food processing, and software products industries represented. Furthermore, a Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement was signed in 2006 with Ahern's visit to India. Furthermore, an estimated 1,000 Indian students were said to be studying in Ireland, while 20,000 – 25,000 Indian and PIO's were said to reside in Ireland (16,000 – 18,000 of whom were Indian citizens). And ''Ireland India Council'' also seeks to foster business ties between the two states. The Council sought to increase "People to People Contact," "Cultural Exchange" engendered through cultural awareness as a necessary attribute to nurturing bilateral relations and / or economic interactions, as "Exchange of Ideas," and more importantly "Business-to-Business Interaction." The council said it existed to provide services for: *Networking in desirable business sectors both in India and in Ireland *Assist its members in setting and operating their business in India and vice versa *Provide travel assistance to its members *Organise workshop and conferences to its members *Provide cultural familiarisation and training to the companies staff and executives The Ireland India Business Association (IIBA) was founded in May 2008 to enhance and increase commercial links between Irish and Indian businesses.


Cultural relations

During a visit to India in November 2012 with delegation from 16 universities, Minister for Education and Skills Ciarán Cannon said that the two countries have "old ties" and there were many Irish missionaries who run schools in India. He also announced: "We want very strong education ties with India. We not only want Indian students to come to Ireland but we also want Irish students to come to India. Ireland to grow, needs trade. If our students have international exposure, it will be easier for us to grow." In this vein, he unveiled several scholarships for Indian students to study in Ireland. IUA's International Education Manager Sinead Lucey said: "Choosing Ireland is a very smart choice for students in areas such as IT, pharmaceuticals and food where there are not enough graduates to fill the jobs. In fact, Ireland has been looking to India to fill some of these jobs. Also, the number of multinational companies in Ireland is something you won’t get in other countries and they continue to create job opportunities for skilled graduates." It followed the enticing prospect of extended visas to work in Ireland with chances to apply for residency and citizenship.Ireland launches full scholarship
. Scholarshipstimes.com. 29 February 2012


Bilateral visits

;From India: * Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru: 1949 & 1956 * President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan: 1964 * President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: 1982 * Prime Minister Narendra Modi: 2015 ;From Ireland: * Éamon de Valera: 1948 * President Patrick Hillery: 1978 * President Mary Robinson: 1993 * Taoiseach
Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...
: 1984 * Taoiseach Bertie Ahern: 2006


References


External links


Indian embassy in Ireland

Irish embassy in India
{{DEFAULTSORT:India-Ireland relations Bilateral relations of Ireland Ireland Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations