Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
India called European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to India an “unprecedented and landmark” and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she held a delegation-level talks where they discussed various things including trade, free trade agreement, digital green technologies to supply chains under the TTC.
Leyen arrived in India on Thursday. This is von der Leyen’s third visit to India. She previously visited in April 2022 for a bilateral meeting and in September 2023 for the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Over the years, PM Modi and von der Leyen have met regularly at multilateral events, underlining the growing diplomatic engagement between India and the EU.
The ministry of external affairs in a special briefing on Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to India said that the leaders have directed their teams that the India-EU FTA should be concluded within the year.
“This is an unprecedented and landmark visit on many counts. This is the first visit by the college (of Commissioners) in its new mandate and the first which has been outside Europe… This visit signals the high priority that is attached by both sides to the strategic partnership that we both share. A visit to the entire college also highlights the very extensive breadth of our partnership and engagement. President von der Leyen met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the two leaders held extensive discussions, including in the delegation-level talks. In addition to these talks, there have been 20 ministerial-level meetings… ” MEA’s Secretary (West), Tanmaya Lal said.
“The meetings include those of the bilateral cluster, the meetings for the three working groups of the trade and technology council… The themes covered in these bilateral ministerial engagements in addition to trade and FTA, digital green technologies to supply chains under the TTC, some of the other themes that were discussed were finance, renewable energy, environment, research and innovation, skilling and education, space, defence, connectivity and mobility, sustainable urbanisation, water, fisheries, women empowerment, and youth…” he added.
He also said that India’s largest trading partner in goods is the European Union. The trade in goods has nearly doubled over the last decade to reach a figure of $135 billion. And the figure has grown three times over the past two decades, Lal added.
MEA’s Secretary (West) also said that there was a discussion on visa and consular issues between India and EU. “Last year, the EU announced the Schengen cascade visa scheme that is aimed at facilitating longer-term visas for frequent travellers. And separately, India and EU and the states have also been discussing what are known as the mobility and migration agreements to facilitate the growing legal pathways for our professional skilled workers who are increasingly in demand in EU countries…” he said.
