New Delhi: Under pressure from the United States to impose prices in India for its oil purchase in Russia, the EU deployed a new strategic program on Wednesday to stimulate bilateral cooperation with India, in particular by creating an EU-Indian security and defense partnership, which would also facilitate industrial defense collaboration, as well as technology, maritime security and counter-metal cooperation.After the launch of the EU proposals for a complete strategic program which will be adopted at the next India-EU summit, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inform her of the EU vision for links with India, while also wishing him the day of her birthday.
‘Will open a new chapter in links’“Delighted to know the” new EU-India strategic program “adopted today. India is ready to take the India-EU relationship at the upper level. It is our shared commitment, our common goal and our shared responsibility. We remain attached to an early and peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, “said Modi in an article on X, appreciating the agenda.The president said that India and the EU will open a new chapter of links and that it has discussed progress in commercial talks and how they can work together to effectively support the “freedom struggle” of Ukraine.The EU and India wish to upgrade their 2004 strategic partnership with a new full program because they are looking for means to compensate for the likely damage to President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. While the leaders have reiterated their commitment to have the free trade agreement (ALE) by the end of this year, there are still a lot of land covered in commercial negotiations and the differences in Russia continue to act as an obstacle in links.The head of the EU foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, stressed at the launch that the purchase of oil from India from Russia has remained a problem, affirming that “ultimately, our partnership does not only concern trade, but also the defense of the international order based on rules. In the trade agreement, Kallas warned that nothing was agreed until everything was agreed. However, EU officials have excluded prices or sanctions against India for its gross purchase in Russia.India and the EU held the 13th round of AFT negotiations here last week and another round is expected at the beginning of next month in Brussels. However, the EU trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, who visited India last week, said that he expected more progress in the last series of talks.While India encourages the EU to double on defense and security cooperation and to enhance its profile in Indo-Pacific, the EU has also announced that the 2 parties launch negotiations on an information security agreement which will facilitate the exchange of classified information and stronger cooperation in the fields related to security and defense.“This could also pave the way for India’s participation in EU security and defense initiatives in accordance with executives based on EU treaties,” said the EU in his joint communication on the agenda.There was also a mention of Pahalgam’s terrorist attack on the agenda, the EU qualifying it as a tragic recall of the human cost of terrorism and to undertake to further strengthen cooperation against terrorism to assess global threats, counteremism and financing of terrorism.According to the EU, its growing strategic engagement in Indo -Pacific – in particular its support for regional partners in complete security fields – is closely aligned with the role of India as a key pillar of regional stability and its in -depth cooperation with partners such as the United States, Japan, Australia and the ASEAN member states. “The two parties should improve coordination and exchange views on the links between Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, in particular the link between the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean as key interfaces between the two,” he proposed.In addition to defense and security, the EU has offered 4 other pillars for growing cooperation: prosperity and sustainability, technology and innovation, connectivity and global problems and catalysts through pillars.According to Indian authorities, the agenda recognizes the growing global profile of India, economic power, important security role, technological prowess, demographic dividends and its growing influence in global affairs. “He identifies India as a natural strategic partner, focusing on convergent interests, complementary forces and shared political will,” said a manager. In their conversation on Wednesday, the two leaders praised the efforts to further strengthen the EU strategic partnership in India for mutual prosperity, as well as to jointly solve global problems, promote stability and promote an order based on rules.
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