India-EU Leaders’ Meet addresses global goals on security, climate change and trade

The India-EU Leaders’ Meeting held on 8th May 2021 in a hybrid format saw  the participation of Indian prime minister Shri Narendra Modi along with leaders from the 27 EU member states along with the President of the European Council and the European Commission. The meeting, the first of its kind to be hosted with India by the EU focussed on three main areas:  i) Strategic Partnership of India-EU and security, ii) Tackling the global health crisis as a result of Covid-19, taking measures towards dealing with climate change and enabling environment, iii) Furthering trade connectivity & technology and strengthening bilateral relations between India & EU. 

In all these areas both India and the EU have a common goal to ensure and further their security, prosperity and sustainable development in a constantly evolving world. To achieve this, both sides agreed to work in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement by strengthening their cooperation towards the mitigation, adaptation and resilience to the effects of climate change, in addition to finding the means for the execution, especially in a financial context, of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021. India thanked  the EU and its member states for their support in tackling the second wave of Covid -19 through the COVAX facility and their contribution to the production of vaccines.

With the aim of enhancing digital, energy, transport and people-to-people connectivity, both nations have started an all-inclusive “Connectivity Partnership”, built on shared goals of social, economic, fiscal and environmental sustainability. Apart from increasing the public and private monetary support for its projects, the partnership will also extend its support to similar initiatives with other nations. They also agreed to work towards bilateral cooperation on digital and other upcoming advancements such as 5G, AI, Quantum and High-Performance Computing through the early functioning of the Joint Task Force on AI and the Digital Investment Forum. Both sides emphasised on the need for an inclusive and rule-based multilateralism for tackling global challenges. The EU’s decision to join The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was welcomed by India. In order to safeguard geographical indications, a decision was made to accelerate the conclusion of the MoU between the EU Intellectual Property Office and Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal trade.