Brussels – India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goel are in Brussels to hold talks with the European Union as they attend the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting. This is first of its kind ministerial-level meeting between India and the EU. Meanwhile, Piyush Goel mentioned that India and the EU have agreed to speed up the discussion to conclude the Free trade agreement.
Moreover, the TTC was established in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and Ursula Von der Leyen, the President of the European Union, during her visit to India last year in April. Three working groups were formed for cooperation between India and the EU. The first group was tasked to work on strategic technology cooperation like digital governance and connectivity; the second one was required to promote cooperation on clean energy and green technologies, and the third group was responsible for enhancing trade, investments and supply chain between India and the EU.
All three working groups meet in Brussels in the presence of Dr S. Jaishankar, Piyush Goel and Rajeev Chandrashekhar. Dr Jaishankar expressed confidence that the TTC would be able to achieve the goals. He also confirmed the discussions about TTC, G20, Global South, Indo-Pacific and Ukraine.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goel confirmed consensus on speeding up the process of a free trade agreement with the EU. After a rift with China, the EU has taken steps to increase trade cooperation with India. The EU is also keen on investing in the Indo-Pacific, which is strategically important from a global trade standpoint. There are indicators that India’s cooperation is of utmost importance to the European Union.
However, India’s closeness with Russia is a discomforting fact for the EU and one of the issues causing hindrances in cooperation between India and the EU. Before meeting with India’s External Affairs minister, the foreign policy chief of the EU, Joseph Borrell, made an astonishing statement that products made in India using fuel from Russia should not be allowed to enter the EU.
