Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his conversation with the Indian Prime Minister. [32694/17]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. [40411/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together.

I spoke with Prime Minister Modi by telephone on 16 June. It was a short congratulatory call, similar to a number of calls I received from Heads of State and Government when I took office. During our brief conversation, we discussed a number of matters including our support for the resumption of talks on an EU-India free trade agreement and co-operation on increasing partnerships between higher education institutions in Ireland and India.

We spoke about the strong bilateral relationship between our two countries and agreed on the further potential to further strengthen trade and investment links between them. The call concluded with Prime Minister Modi inviting me to visit India, which I hope to do at some point in the future.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Given the Taoiseach's own connections to India, the first logical question to ask him is whether he plans an official visit. Has he extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of India? I am conscious that India is a country of 1.3 billion people, the largest democracy in the world. Would the Taoiseach agree that we should expand our relationships there?

Not long after his appointment, the Taoiseach spoke about a desire to grow the Irish diplomatic presence abroad. Currently we have an embassy in India as well as four honorary consulates. In countries with which we have strong relationships, normally at least some of these honorary consulates are transformed into full consulates with full diplomatic representation. Given the size of India, which is a subcontinent, would the Taoiseach agree that we should seek to expand?

Has the Taoiseach had an opportunity to discuss human rights issues as they arise in the context of both India and Ireland? Such a discussion might include the potential impact of Brexit on immigration from the Indian subcontinent to the UK which, obviously, at this point in time, still includes Northern Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am sure Deputy Varadkar's election as leader of his party and subsequently as Taoiseach attracted very considerable interest in India and, I do not doubt, a very considerable and justifiable pride. Our two countries have a long tradition of friendship and engagement that goes back for generations, as we know, including during the efforts of India to secure its independence from Britain. We have much in common.

What was the substance of the Taoiseach's exchange with Prime Minister Modi in respect of Brexit? Bilateral trade between India and Ireland touched around $1.2 billion from 2014 to 2015. While that is considerable, there is massive scope for development. Currently, our major items of export to India include telecommunications equipment, computer accessories, precision equipment and pharmaceuticals. Could the Taoiseach give us a flavour of the conversation he had on a sectoral basis, if these issues were discussed?

Does the Taoiseach have plans to visit India? Did he extend an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to return to our shores? I understand he last visited here in September 2015.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The links between Ireland and India go back to before independence, as Deputy McDonald said. There were very strong links between the former Taoiseach and President, Éamon de Valera, and Indian politics of the time. Those links were renewed in recent years, particularly in the area of science policy. The initial Ireland-India research programme offered considerable opportunities for Irish and Indian researchers to exchange information and pursue opportunities in both countries. What is the current status of that research programme and what are the Taoiseach's plans for it?

In respect of Brexit opportunities in India, what extra resources will specifically go to Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland to pursue opportunities within the Indian market?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As was mentioned, Prime Minister Modi made a visit to Ireland last year and I had the opportunity to meet him on that occasion. I certainly did invite him to visit Ireland again and would very much like him to do so. However, I appreciate that having only visited last year, it might be some time before an Indian Prime Minister is able to visit again. He did invite me to India and asked that I bring my family with me. I would certainly like to visit India in the future but no arrangements have been made as yet. There are, of course, a number of other places that I need to visit, particularly with so many European issues on the agenda. I have plans to visit a number of European countries over the next couple of months, if I can.

In response to Deputy Burton, I agree that we should expand our consulates around the world and expand our diplomatic footprint. The Deputy mentioned that we have an embassy in Delhi but only honorary consulates in a number of other cities. One city that springs to mind, in which we could perhaps in future have a consulate, is Mumbai, one of the largest cities in the world and very much India's economic capital. I imagine it is the kind of place where an Ireland House operation involving IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and a consulate would be very appropriate.

I have asked a number of Ministers to work together to develop a plan to double our global footprint over the next seven to eight years. That is not necessarily a doubling of offices, staff or budgets but it is a matter of looking at the entire suite of Irish diplomatic representation - our embassies and consulates, Bord Bia, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, and Tourism Ireland - and also our cultural presence around the world, and thinking strategically as to how we can increase that over the next seven or eight years. This is in part a response to Brexit but even if there was no Brexit it is the kind of thing we should be doing anyway. We are a small country and we need boots and suits on the ground. Compared to other countries like Denmark and New Zealand, we are somewhat behind. If we really do want to be an island at the centre of the world, we are going to need more people out and about around the world representing us. However, these things should not be done overnight. They should be done in a planned way and scaled up to make sure we have the right people with good competence doing exactly those things.

In respect of the other matters, this was a very short, congratulatory call which probably did not go on for more than eight or nine minutes. While the issues mentioned by Deputies are of course very important, it was not possible to discuss them all in the time we had.