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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was welcomed in Dublin by the voices of Irish children reciting Sanskrit shlokas, took a jibe at the opposition parties back home saying that if this was done in India then it would have raised questions about 'secularism'.
Addressing the Indian diaspora in the Ireland capital, Prime Minister Modi praised the children for chanting the shlokas and admitted that he was impressed by the way the kids had memorised the Sanskrit verses.
"The Irish children were reciting shlokas in Sanskrit and singing welcome songs. It did not seem to me that they were just tutored. They were able to express the feelings of the words," Prime Minister said in his address.
"In Ireland this can be done, but had it happened in India then questions would have been raised on secularism," he added.
Speaking about his brief Ireland trip, Modi said: "I will begin by apologizing... I wish I had spent more time with you." He also said, "This is a good start. Next time it won't take 60 years for a PM to come to Ireland."
During his visit, he sought Ireland's support for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and also brought up the issue of India's membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) during his discussions with his Irish counterpart.
Prime Minister Modi later left for New York for the second leg of his two-nation tour.