Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took part in a virtual meeting with the heads of State or Government of all the 27 European Union member states and discussed with them expanding overall cooperation in areas of trade, investment, connectivity, and Covid-19. The EU countries pledged their support to India in its fight against thesecond wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thanking EU and its member states for their “continued commitment to strengthening relationship with India”, Modi said, “I also thank my friend Prime Minister @antoniocostapm for this initiative and according high priority to India during Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council.” The
PM tagged Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who hosted the meeting.
The leaders also exchanged views on the Covid-19 pandemic and healthcare cooperation.
“We are opening a new chapter in #EUIndia strategic partnership at the meeting of EU Leaders with PM @narendramodi,” tweeted Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
He said the two sides are launching negotiations on three agreements — trade, investment and geographical indications.
Modi was scheduled to visit Portugal for the leaders’ meeting but it was called off in view of the coronavirus crisis and both sides decided to hold the deliberations virtually.
A strategically important grouping, the EU as a whole was India’s largest trading partner in 2018. India’s bilateral trade with the EU in 2018-19 stood at USD 115.6 billion with exports valued at USD 57.17 billion and imports worth USD 58.42 billion.
In the 15th India-EU summit in July last year, Prime Minister Modi had pitched for bringing out an “action-oriented” agenda to further expand ties between the two sides.
In a series of tweets, Modi said the India-EU “collaboration is essential to stopping the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring a sustainable and inclusive recovery in a more digital and greener world”.
“Our stronger partnership is essential for achieving peace and prosperity for our peoples. We welcomed the resumption of negotiations for Trade and Investment Agreements, as well as our new Connectivity Partnership,” he tweeted.
This was the first such interaction between the Indian PM and the entire 27-member bloc in eight yearsThe 27 leaders of EU have met in this format only once before, with the US President in March this year.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “Today’s meeting with Narendra Modi could not be more timely. The EU stands at India’s side in this most challenging time. We will also discuss how to further strengthen our strategic partnership. The EU and IN can achieve a lot more by working “Ek Saath” - together.”
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed India’s role in providing humanitarian support to way of medical supplies when the world battle Coviod-19 last year,
Spainsh PM Pedro Sánchez also talked about India’s help when his country was being ravaged by the pandemic last year, the sources said.
Belgian PM Alexander De Croo reportedly greeted PM Modi, asking “Kem Chho” (the Gujarati for ‘how are you’).
“We deeply condoled the loss of lives and expressed the deepest sympathy with the families of the victims of this pandemic in India, Europe and the rest of the world,” a joint statement on the India-EU leaders’ meeting said.
“India appreciated the EU’s & its Member States’ quick support & assistance, coordinated through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, thus keeping the spirit of solidarity and cooperation that has been the hallmark of India-EU relations,” it added.