The Ministry of External Affairs said today that India and the European Union are negotiating to conclude a security and defense partnership.
This occurs only a few days after the EU, in a joint communication from Brussels, said that it wanted a deeper commitment to India on military industrial cooperation and a partnership on security and defense.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during a weekly briefing, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had received a telephone call from the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen on September 17. They reaffirmed a commitment to a conclusion from the India-UE FTA partnership and the defense and security partnership.
On the same day, the European Commission and the EU High Representative announced joint communication describing a new strategic program to raise the India-EU partnership at a higher level, based on the visit of the college of EU commissioners in India earlier this year. Closer EU-India Cooperation in terms of security and defense is the key result of joint communication which said that “the two parties now explore the creation of an” EU-India security and defense partnership “.”
The two parties also launch negotiations on “the information security agreement” which will facilitate the exchange of classified information in the field of security and defense. The EU also wants more operational exercises with the Indian navy to facilitate a greater sharing of information and cooperation in the Indian Ocean. Another facet is industrial defense cooperation between the EU and the Indian defense industries – in accordance with shared security priorities. Joint communication indicates that EU expertise in the research, development and manufacturing of defense can help India strengthen its industrial defense database and diversify reliable supply chains.
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