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International cooperation

EU Proposes New Strategic Agenda to Enhance Relations with India

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The European Union has proposed a new strategic agenda aimed at raising bilateral relations with India to a higher level, enhancing prosperity and security for both partners, and helping to tackle major global challenges. The initiative, announced by EU President von der Leyen, seeks to deepen, broaden, and better coordinate bilateral cooperation with India, particularly in areas such as trade, investment, and technology. The new strategy also emphasizes the need to reinforce supply chains, promote critical emerging technologies, and strengthen economic security.

Key Takeaways:

  • The EU's new strategic agenda with India aims to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation, particularly in areas such as trade, investment, and technology.
  • The initiative seeks to finalize the ongoing negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and India by the end of the year.
  • The EU and India have identified five areas of shared interest and complementary strengths, including trade and investment, digital issues, decarbonisation, food security, and health and climate resilience.
  • The new strategy proposes deepening tech cooperation, including a potential EU-India Startup partnership, and invites India to associate with the Horizon Europe program.
  • The EU and India will strengthen regional connectivity initiatives, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and advance the Global Gateway and EU-India trilateral cooperation with and in third countries.
  • The Joint Communication emphasizes the need to maximize interaction and strengthen EU-India coordination at all levels, including skills mobility and labor mobility.

Statistics:

  • The EU is already India's biggest trading partner (Source: EU statement).
  • The EU aims to finalize the ongoing trade talks with India by the end of the year (Source: EU statement).
  • The EU and India have identified significant untapped potential in trade and investment (Source: Joint Communication).
  • The EU-India startup partnership aims to facilitate cooperation, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the technology sector (Source: Joint Communication).

Sources:

  • "EU President von der Leyen proposes new strategic agenda to enhance relations with India" (United News of India)
  • "Joint Communication: EU-India partnership for regional security" (European Union)

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