NEW DELHI: Negotiations between India and the European Union (EU) on a trade agreement, including price barriers and non -tariffs, and the creation of a bilateral strategic program will be as the visit of the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in New Delhi this week.
Von der Leyen and 21 members of the college of EU commissioners, or political leaders of the 27 member states, go to India on February 27 and 28 for meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. The second ministerial meeting of the EU-EU Commerce and Technology Council (TTC) will also take place during the visit.
Modi and Von Der Leyen should examine negotiations for a free trade agreement, which the two parties resumed in 2022 after a difference of almost a decade. The two parties will also seek to advance cooperation in defense and security, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
The two parties will take stock of “where we are and how we can advance these negotiations” for the ALE, said the official. Describing India as a “relatively closed” market, in particular for the main European products such as wines and spirits and cars, the manager said that the emphasis will be placed on an “ambitious and commercially significant” ale which covers prices, non -tariff barriers and supply commitments.
“We always expect India to find stronger commitments and we are also ready to respond to India’s requests,” he said, while refusing to set a period to finalize the FTA. “It is difficult to say when we cross the finish line with this important negotiation. For us, the speed is less important than the substance, so we want to obtain the substance just before engaging in a certain calendar, “he said.
In the context of defense security and cooperation, the manager said that the visit should help give the new EU strategic program for India, which would include economic growth, competitiveness, technology and forging partnership at a time of the increase in geopolitical uncertainty due to the American administration policies.
“India is one of these great powers with which we seek to unite their forces on security issues due to security theaters that are fundamentally interested in us, in particular a free and secure Indo-Pacific and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which is linked to Eurasian security and EURT Asia,” said the EU.
Tracking a distinction in India and China, the official said that India and the EU have a similar perspective on the concerns related to the assertion of China abroad and that Brussels perceives New Delhi as a “very important partner” to pursue a derisory, resilience and diversification program of exchanges, imports and investments.
In addition to having regular security dialogues, India and the EU did their first joint naval exercise last year and also work together on cybersecurity, the fight against terrorism and crisis management. A new field of cooperation is space security and India has expressed its interest in an information security agreement that could open the door to New Delhi to participate in European defense cooperation projects, the EU official said.
The economic corridor of East-Europe India-Ddle (IMEC) is expected to appear in the next meetings despite the initiative that encounters problems in the Middle East due to the conflict of Israel-Hamas. “We remain determined to develop infrastructure, to continue investments along this corridor and to build this connectivity where we are still at an early stage,” said the official.
Von der Leyen is expected to inform the Indian side of his last visit to Ukraine and European efforts for just and sustainable peace, including cooperation to apply EU sanctions on Russia, the official said. “We can only underline the importance of Ukraine’s security for our own security and the importance of Ukraine’s security for India,” he said.
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