Twenty-two of the 27 Commissioners are a part of the delegation led by European Fee (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen. That is the primary journey out of Europe by the School that took workplace in December, and the first-ever go to to India by the Commissioners collectively.
Indian officers mentioned the go to of the School of Commissioners marks a major new section in bilateral relations, as India and the EU enter the third decade of their Strategic Partnership.
Conferences of the India-EU Commerce and Expertise Council (TTC), bilaterals between Indian Ministers and EU Commissioners, and the assembly on the leaders’ degree will diversify engagement and promote commerce and investments in a variety of areas, the officers mentioned.
These embrace synthetic intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, in addition to inexperienced hydrogen, sustainable urbanisation, water administration, resilient provide chains, defence, and house.
A deepening relationship
India established diplomatic relations with the European Financial Group — the primary pillar of the long run European Union — again in 1962. The Joint Political Assertion signed in 1993 and the Cooperation Settlement of 1994 paved the way in which for the strengthening of ties between India and Europe.
The multi-tier institutional structure of cooperation has been presided over by the India-EU Summits, 15 of which have been held up to now. The primary Summit was held in Lisbon in June 2000, and the bilateral relationship was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership on the fifth Summit in The Hague in 2004.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and EC President Ursula von der Leyen have met at the very least seven occasions prior to now. The President paid an official go to to India in April 2022, throughout which she participated within the Raisina Dialogue as Chief Visitor, and delivered the inaugural tackle.
Prime Minister Modi and President von der Leyen met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 Rio Summit in November 2024. In January this yr, the PM spoke by phone with the President of the European Council Antonio Costa.
Conferences and initiatives
The India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025, was adopted on the final India-EU Summit in July 2020.
On the Leaders’ Assembly in Could 2021, the 2 sides introduced the resumption of negotiations for a complete free commerce and funding settlement, and an settlement on Geographical Indications. In addition they launched an bold ‘Connectivity Partnership’.
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Throughout their assembly in 2022, Modi and von der Leyen introduced the institution of an India-EU TTC as a strategic coordination mechanism to sort out challenges on the nexus of commerce, trusted expertise, and safety.
The TTC — a brand new frontier just like the Initiative for Crucial and Rising Applied sciences with the US or the Expertise Safety Initiative with the UK — represents three important pillars of India-EU cooperation: Digital and Strategic Applied sciences; Clear and Inexperienced Applied sciences; and Commerce, Investments and Resilient Provide Chains.
The First Ministerial Assembly of the TTC was held in Could 2023; the Second Assembly can be held in New Delhi on Friday.
Within the numerous conferences between the 2 sides, the difficulty of worldwide cooperation — together with the continuing struggle in Ukraine, during which the US beneath President Donald Trump has executed a outstanding change, leaving the Europeans within the lurch — is for certain to be mentioned.
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Commerce and investments
India and the EU have been negotiating a Free Commerce Settlement for the final decade and a half.
The financial argument for an settlement is powerful: the EU is India’s largest buying and selling companion in items, and bilateral commerce has elevated 90% over the previous decade.
Bilateral commerce in items was $135 billion in FY 2023-24, with Indian exports to the EU accounting for $76 billion and imports for $59 billion. Bilateral commerce in providers in 2023 stood at $53 billion, comprising Indian exports of $30 billion and imports of $23 billion.
Cumulative Overseas Direct Funding (FDI) flows from the EU in the course of the interval April 2000 to September 2024 was $117.4 billion, which represented 16.6% of the whole FDI fairness influx.
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Indian FDI outflows to the EU are valued at roughly $40.04 billion for the interval April 2000 to March 2024.
Expertise cooperation
The expertise partnership between India and the EU has assumed larger significance and urgency in view of China’s developments on this area.
Bilateral science and expertise cooperation is carried out throughout the framework of the Science and Expertise Cooperation Settlement of 2007. The India-EU Intent of Cooperation in Excessive Efficiency Computing (HPC) was signed in November 2022, and in November 2023, the 2 sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on semiconductor R&D cooperation. The next month, the EU participated within the World Partnership on AI Summit in New Delhi.
Inexperienced power options
Underneath the India-EU Inexperienced Hydrogen Cooperation initiative, India was the unique companion nation on the European Hydrogen Week in Brussels in November 2024. The EU was a serious companion within the Worldwide Convention on Inexperienced Hydrogen in Delhi that September.
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The European Funding Financial institution has dedicated to supporting Indian hydrogen initiatives with funding of 1 billion euros. Indian and European firms are collaborating within the renewable and hydrogen sectors with the goal of growing a inexperienced hydrogen ecosystem in India by 2030.
Individuals-to-people ties
Sturdy and rising people-people ties is without doubt one of the foundations of the India-EU relationship. The rising Indian diaspora within the EU accommodates giant numbers of scholars, researchers, and expert professionals. Indian professionals obtained the biggest share — greater than 20% — of EU Blue Playing cards issued in 2023-24.
During the last 20 years, greater than 6,000 Erasmus scholarships have been awarded to Indian college students, making them among the many high recipients of the scholarships. Greater than 2,700 Indian researchers have been funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (a part of the EU’s analysis and innovation programme Horizon Europe) since 2014 — probably the most on the earth.
Defence and house
India and the EU are strengthening their defence cooperation, specifically in maritime safety and the Indo-Pacific area beneath ESIWA+ safety programme. That is essential within the context of China’s rising maritime prowess and aggressive insurance policies.
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The primary joint naval workout routines had been held in October 2023 within the Gulf of Guinea. The 2 sides have stepped up cooperation on world safety, pure disasters, piracy, and counter-terrorism.
The Indian House Analysis Organisation’s (ISRO’s) PSLV efficiently launched the EU’s PROBA-3 mission in December 2024. ISRO and the European House Company (ESA) have cooperated on the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 missions, and signed an MoU for cooperation on Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight mission.
