On Wednesday, the European Union (EU) proposed a new strategic program to increase bilateral relations with India to a higher level. “Europe is already the largest trading partner in India and we are committed to finalizing our free trade agreement by the end of the year. Europe is open to business. And we are ready to invest in our common future with India.” The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a press release released from Brussels.
She also wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be his birthday when he was 75 years old on September 17. Modi’s post on this subject on X said: “India is ready to take the India-Eu relationship at the next level. It is our shared commitment, our shared objective and our shared responsibility. We remain attached to an early and peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.”
The European Commission, which is the EU executive body; And the high representative, the first diplomat of EU joint policy on foreign and security issues, adopted the Joint communication addressed to the European Parliament.
“It is now time to focus on reliable partners and double the partnerships anchored in shared interests and guided by common values. With our new EU-Indian strategy, we make our relationship at the higher level,” added President Von Der Leyen, who announced the agenda in his political guidelines for 2024-2029.
The joint communication identifies the key areas of the common interest and the complementary forces, based on existing links while attacking areas that have increased engagement potential, a statement said. He stressed that in the midst of changing geopolitical realities, the closer relations of the EU-India are increasingly vital, in particular for the diversification of supply chains in response to the uncertain global order of today.
He spoke of the growing global influence of India: “Beyond the bilateral dimension, the new strategic program highlights the joint EU-India engagement on global issues and with the third partners.”
Among the priorities, he said that joint communication advanced the EU-India security and defense partnership project. He listed joint maritime security initiatives, cyberfense and the fight against terrorism.
“The closer cooperation on Indo-Pacific, the fight against hybrid threats, spatial security and the intensification of the commitment of the Russian war against Ukraine, the shadow fleets and the sanctions are other areas of interest,” he said.
The document proposes to structure the new India-UE strategic program around five cooperation pillars.
- These include “prosperity and sustainability”, under which it has the aim of stimulating trade and investment and the finalization of the free trade agreement (ALE) at the end of 2025.
- On technology and innovation, the document speaks of cooperation on critical emerging technologies such as AI, semiconductors, high performance IT and space technology.
- On security, it plans to deepen the commitment to regional security and to facilitate industrial defense cooperation to increase production capacity, innovation and secure supply chains.
- On connectivity, the plan is to strengthen the form of global governance thanks to a coordinated multilateral engagement on UN reforms, the modernization of the WTO, climate action, human rights and security.
- In addition, to allow cooperation between categories, the plan is to expand skills mobility, including in the digital sector; Promote mutual understanding through educational exchanges, cultural diplomacy and academic cooperation; And engage the commercial communities with the EU-Indian commercial forums, among other plans.
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