‘Strategic partnership for mutual benefit’: Here’s what India’s FS Vikram Misry said on India-EU summit

India and the European Union announced the historic "the mother of all deals" on Tuesday (Jan 27). Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in this context that the European delegation's visit to India gave important outcomes. "The outcomes are deeply strategic in nature. Over the last decade, the relations between India and the European Union have grown steadily. They have grown not just in scale but in significance as well, as evidenced by the level and frequency of contacts and engagements between the two sides. In our fast-changing world, the strategic partnership between India and the EU has a value beyond the bilateral context, particularly as we witness shifts in the global economic, technological, and strategic landscape. As the world's second and fourth largest markets, India and the EU also have very high stakes on all critical global challenges of the day, including over-dependence and concentration of global manufacturing and supply chains on a limited set of geographies, an ineffective multilateral system, emerging multipolarity, and growing protectionist tendencies in different parts of the world," the Foreign Secretary said.

"And therefore, as two large pluralistic democracies and open market economies, our leaders have resolved to take this very strategic partnership forward for mutual benefit and for the greater good of the global population as a whole," he added.

He further asserted, "Today, Presidents Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi co-chaired the 16th India-EU summit. They held detailed bilateral talks, both in the restricted format and in the delegation-level format. There were several key documents that were signed and exchanged before the leaders, including the joint announcement on the conclusion of the negotiations of a landmark and historic India-EU free trade agreement, an equally important security and defence partnership agreement between the two sides, and an MOU on comprehensive framework on cooperation on mobility, among others. Prime Minister and President von der Leyen also addressed the India-EU Business Forum in Bharat Mandapam, where more than 100 CEOs from both sides participated."

Adding to this, he said, "Let me make a few quick points with regard to the outcome of this truly historic visit that is currently underway. The President of the European Council, His Excellencies Antonio Costa, the President of the European Commission, Her Excellency Ursula von der Leyen are on a state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both the Presidents were jointly Chief Guests at the Republic Day celebrations yesterday. This is the first time ever that we had the European leaders as guests of honour for our Republic Day."