Note a high political priority in the continuation of economic integration with the European Union (EU) in the midst of shared concerns concerning overcapacity in China and uncertainties in the world of world trade due to the pricing threats of American President Donald Trump, a meeting convened by the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) with a high -level approach to the EU delegation focused on the need for a cohesive.
This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and president of the European Commission (CE), Ursula von der Leyen should discuss a range of questionsIncluding negotiations for a commercial agreement and greater cooperation on security, defense and rapid emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The high -level meeting convened recently by the PMO, which included all the top secretaries of the Government of India and presented presentations of key ministries on the approach of future discussions, decided to adopt a coherent and collaborative approach in parliays with the members of the EU delegation led by the EC chief, the Indian Express learned. Reunion also comes at a time when there is an increasing recognition of the need for a more productive model for negotiations for the free trade agreement (ALE), taking into account the mixed results of commercial transactions which were located so far, including the new agreements negotiated by the current government. High government officials have said that India was now aiming for larger markets such as the United Kingdom and EU for export growth.
This meeting is of greater importance because it opens the way to rethink New Delhi’s position on crucial talks to relaunch an ALE which has been in discussion for more than a decade. If it is concluded, it would be the largest Ale in India, potentially improving market access for sectors with high intensity of labor such as textiles, leather and marine products on the country’s second export market after the United States.
This is not the first time that the two partners have sought to sign a commercial agreement; The first negotiations of this type began in 2013 but failed due to disagreements on market access. However, in May 2021, the EU and the Indian leaders agreed to resume negotiations for a “balanced, ambitious, complete and mutually beneficial” trade agreement.
The probability of a trade agreement with the EU also assumes the importance, while India’s commercial dependence on the block increases, in the midst of a change marked in world trade along the geopolitical lines, according to a report by the United Nations Commerce and Development Conference (UNCTAD) published last year. UNCTAD estimates, based on national statistics, show that India’s dependence on China and the EU increased by 1.2%, while its dependence on Saudi Arabia decreased by 0.6%.
“Over the past two years, the geographic proximity of international trade has remained relatively constant, showing a minimum of close or large -scale trends. However, since the last part of 2022, there has been a significant increase in political proximity to trade, “said UNCTED report last year.
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“This indicates that bilateral trade patterns favored trade between countries with similar political positions. At the same time, there has been an increasing concentration of global trade favoring the main trade relations, although this trend was softened in the last quarter of 2023, “added the report published earlier this month.
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