'India-EU leaders' summit to give impetus to trade, investment negotiations'
Premium- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa have made the statement in an op-ed piece written for politico.eu magazine
NEW DELHI : The India-European Union leaders’ summit, which is to begin later Saturday, is an opportunity to give a new impetus to trade and investment negotiations between the EU and India, a joint op-ed piece by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa has said.
Modi is to join the leaders of the 27 EU member states on Saturday in a virtual meeting which is to elevate ties to a new level. The 27 leaders will be gathering at Porto in Portugal for the meet.
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5 min read . 12:24 PM IST“It is the right time to resume negotiations towards an ambitious and balanced trade agreement capable of acting as a key driver for sustainable growth and jobs creation, both for India and Europe. Apart from everything else, an EU-India agreement would send a powerful signal to the world in support of the benefits of international trade cooperation," the two leaders said in the piece published in the politico.eu magazine.
An announcement of the resumption of India-EU trade talks is expected on Saturday after a gap of eight years. First started in 2007, India-EU trade talks came to a standstill in 2013, after 16 rounds and attempts to get them restarted have not worked.
The negotiation of an “EU-wide investment protection framework would provide greater stability and certainty to companies from India and EU to expand their presence in each other’s markets", the two leaders said.
The Porto EU-India leaders’ meeting also “promises to be a pivotal moment" giving a “new momentum to the partnership between the world’s two largest democratic spaces, made up of over 1.8 billion people", the two leaders said.
“This dialogue will be crucial to rebalance relations between the EU and the Indo-Pacific. It is key for us to reaffirm our firm belief in democracy, rule of law, tolerance and the universality and indivisibility of human rights," the op-ed piece reads.
“We must seize this opportunity to elevate our relationship, using the huge potential of our democratic spaces to advance trade and investment ties and to support effective multilateralism, and a rules-based order," it further said.
The India and the EU are already key partners in issues of growing relevance for development and sustainability, it said, and added that the summit would open more opportunities for the two sides to work together.
The reference was to another takeaway expected from the meeting—a connectivity partnership aimed at furthering the cooperation on transport, energy, digital and people-to-people contacts.
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