Good to see that Leo Varadkar - who is of Indian descent - going to India to meet his Indian opposite number. Can't hurt!
It is also interesting to see that the negotiations seem to be talking place at government level, rather than at AI/DAA level; that, I think, is also a positive, because the Indian-Irish relationship can be pushed by other departments as well; perhaps a visit to Ireland by PM Manmohan Singh could be arranged; India is a massively important market, as a trading partner and as a possible tourism source, and we need to be aggressively proactive in getting into that market; getting AI to develop a hub at DUB would be a huge boost to that.
One possible obstacle is runway length, but extending this over a period of time (say 12-18 mos.) could be part of the deal. However, AI is one of the four or five carriers who will receive 787s this year (yes, at last!) and they would have no problem with DUB operations.