India and the European Union (EU) have decided to enhance naval cooperation, emphasising the need to preserve safety and stability in the Indian Ocean. At the virtual India-EU summit on Wednesday, the two partners also agreed to launch a dialogue on maritime security and consultations.
The summit was originally scheduled in March but had to be shelved due to the pandemic-triggered travel restrictions.
India and the EU also reaffirmed their strong commitment to global peace and security disarmament and non-proliferation and to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including its financing, and countering radicalisation, said a joint statement.
Pakistan and China were both discussed at the summit. Addressing the media, Secretary West, Vikas Swarup said that the mention of Pakistan came up when they discussed terrorism while China made an appearance in the discussions regarding the geopolitical situation.
Given that the discussions ranged over the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and medical aspects around it as well as the post-pandemic recovery, China must have featured throughout the discussions, even if not by name every time.
The EU is India's largest trading partner of goods, and is now vital for the Atmanirbhar Bharat direction that the Indian economy is taking to align Indian domestic manufacturing with global supply chains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited the EU for foreign direct investment in India.
The leaders agreed to “establish a High Level Dialogue at ministerial level to provide guidance to the bilateral trade and investment relations and to address multilateral issues of mutual interest.'' They also decided to upgrade their dialogue and cooperation in technology.
“They will engage on 5G and artificial intelligence to promote global standards and to foster their safe and ethical employment,'' the joint statement added, again a clear reference to taking on the dragon in its telecom infrastructure game. Yet another line in the statement said that the two sides have agreed to “seek synergies between their cooperation on connectivity with third countries including in the Indo-Pacific region”.
Modi interacted with EU Council President Charles Michel and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and EU high representative Josep Borrrell Fontelles were also present.
The two sides finalised five documents: the joint statement, the roadmap to 2025, renewing the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement and the joint declaration on resource efficiency and circular economy.