New Delhi (India), January 27 (ANI): India and the European Union are set to intensify their long-standing strategic engagement, first formalized in 2004, with the signing of a Security and Defense Partnership (SDP), which will explore avenues for India’s participation in European defense initiatives.
At the 16th India-EU Summit today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have restricted and delegation-level discussions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
An India-EU business forum will also take place alongside the summit.
The meeting will focus broadly on trade, defense and security cooperation, climate action, critical technologies and strengthening the rules-based global order.
In addition to advancing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the two sides are expected to roll out a defense framework agreement and announce a strategic agenda.
The summit is co-chaired by the Prime Minister and the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission.
The previous summit took place virtually in July 2020.
A subsequent leaders’ meeting bringing together representatives from all 27 EU member states was held in Porto, Portugal in May 2021, with the Prime Minister virtually participating.
India and the EU are also exploring the possibility of concluding a Security Information Agreement (SOIA) and a mobility pact.
Agreements in other sectors are expected, while discussions are also expected to focus on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and developments in West Asia.
Negotiations on the FTA were initially launched in 2007, but were suspended in 2013 due to differences in ambition, before being relaunched in June 2022.
Bilateral ties between India and the EU have gradually expanded in areas such as trade, investment, climate change, science and technology, space, digital cooperation, mobility and connectivity.
In February last year, the College of EU Commissioners led by von der Leyen visited New Delhi, marking the first such visit to a partner country outside Europe.
Von der Leyen, along with then-European Council President Charles Michel, had previously visited India for the G20 summit in September 2023, while she also made an official visit in April 2022.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visited Brussels in June last year for the first India-EU strategic dialogue.
Trade and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in Brussels in January, while EU Trade Commissioner Marcos Sefcovic visited India in December 2025.
Goyal met the European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity in Berlin in October 2025.
In September 2025, EU commissioners for trade and agriculture visited India and held meetings with it.
Beyond trade and defense, the third phase of the India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership (CECP), launched in 2016, was adopted in November 2024.
The EU became a partner organization of the International Solar Alliance in 2018 and joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in March 2021.
The European Investment Bank continues to support India’s climate and energy transition by financing sustainable transport and urban mobility projects, including urban rail and metro systems.
Cooperation also extends to offshore wind energy, gas infrastructure development, methane emissions reduction, investments and technology transfer.
In July 2020, India’s Ministry of Atomic Energy and EURATOM signed a collaboration agreement on research and development for peaceful nuclear applications.
The India-EU Connectivity Partnership, launched in 2021, focuses on transport, digital and energy networks, as well as facilitating the flow of people, goods, services, data and capital.
The two sides agreed in June 2025 on an administrative arrangement for trilateral development cooperation on projects in third countries.
Scientific collaboration is guided by the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in 2007, with a joint steering committee advancing projects in the areas of smart grids, water, vaccines, polar science and mobility of young scientists linked to the European Research Council.
Under the India-EU Water Partnership, adopted in 2016, a joint working group is examining developments in water policy.
The sixth EU-India Water Forum was held in New Delhi in September 2024.
Regarding space cooperation, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space met the Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology in New Delhi in February 2025.
The first India-EU space dialogue took place in Brussels in November 2025.
Isro and the European Space Agency signed a joint declaration of intent on cooperation in the field of manned space exploration in May 2025.
On migration and mobility, the ninth India-EU High Level Dialogue on Migration and Mobility was held in New Delhi in November 2025. (ANI)
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