5th round of Foreign and Security Policy Consultations between India and the European Union
NEW DELHI / AMN
India and the European Union Friday reviewed the entire gamut of India-EU Strategic Partnership and discussed ways to further deepen cooperation in political, economic and security areas.
Strongly condemning the recent terror attacks in Barcelona, they called for enhancing cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They also discussed cyber security and maritime threats.
The two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and reiterated their respective commitments to promoting and protecting a rules-based international order.
This came up during the 5th round of Foreign and Security Policy Consultations between India and the European Union held in New Delhi. The Indian side was led by Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry,Ruchi Ghanashyam while the EU side by , Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs, European External Action Service ,Jean-Christophe Belliard.The two sides also reviewed economic cooperation calling for greater investment and trade flows between India and the EU.
They concurred that the International Solar Alliance presented new opportunities to further strengthen India-EU clean energy and climate partnership. The EU expressed its desire to support initiatives of ISA including through the European Investment Bank.
The bilateral engagement laid the grounds for the forthcoming India-EU Summit to be held in India later in the year.
The EU is one of India’s largest trading partners with bilateral trade in goods standing at 85 billion in 2016. The EU is also the largest destination for Indian exports and a key source of investment and cutting edge technologies.
India received around 80 billion FDI flows from Europe during 2000-16 constituting approximately 25 percent of the total FDI inflows into the country during the period