Thursday, December 1 2005 12:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dublin: Keen on gaining a foothold in the Indian market as part of its "Asia Strategy", Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern is embarking on a six-day visit of India in January heading an over 100-member Trade and official delegation that will seek to deepen business and political ties between the two countries.

The visit from January 16 to 22 that will take Ahern to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore is slated to give a big thrust to cooperation between the two countries in areas like Information and Communication Technology and Bio Technology sectors in which both the nations are leaders in their own right.

"We have no tensions. We have no bilateral problems. There is no reason why we should not build on this strong base," Ahern, the first Irish Prime Minister to make a bilateral visit to India, told visiting senior Indian journalists at an interaction here.

Flanked by Ministers of Enterprise Trade and Employment, Education and Art and Culture, the three areas where Ireland wants to break new grounds in ties with India, he said "India is important for us.

India can access the European market through us and it makes for huge sense to say India collaborate with us in different markets. It is for us to build on the present friendship."