Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI file Photo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will next week host Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, Presidents of the European Council and European Commission, for the 14th summit between India and the European Union. Tusk and Juncker are leading a high-level delegation of the European Union on a visit to New Delhi.
The EU delegation will include the bloc’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, who also holds the office of the Vice-President of the European Commission, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in a press release. Trade and counterterrorism cooperation will top the agenda of the summit.
The EU is India’s largest regional trading partner with bilateral trade in goods standing at $88 billion in 2016. The EU is also the largest destination for Indian exports and a key source of the investment and cutting-edge technologies. India received around the US $83 billion FDI flows from Europe during 2000-17 constituting approximately 24% of the total FDI inflows into the country during the period.
India and EU last year discussed possibility of an early restart of negotiations on a broad-based trade and investment agreement. The negotiations remained stalled since 2013 due to differences over certain issues, including improved market access for some goods and services, government procurement, geographical indications, investment protection rules and sustainable development. India and EU are also strategic partners since 2004. The 13th India-EU Summit was held in Brussels on March 30.