The 14th India-EU Summit aims to deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance collaboration in priority areas for India’s growth and development.
The leaders reviewed the wide-ranging cooperation under the India-EU Strategic Partnership and the progress made towards implementing the India-EU Agenda for Action 2020.
India-EU Agenda For Action 2020
It is the roadmap for bilateral cooperation endorsed during the 13th India-EU Summit.
It is a common roadmap to jointly guide and strengthen the India-EU Strategic Partnership in the next five years.
The agenda further builds upon the shared objectives and outcomes of the Joint Action Plans of 2005 and 2008.
The countries observed that the bilateral Cyber Dialogue provided a strong foundation for existing and future cooperation.
The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening global non-proliferation efforts as highlighted at the India-EU Non-proliferation and Disarmament Dialogue.
Both sides noted the recent joint exercise PASSEXbetween the EU Naval Force and the Indian Navy off the coast of Somalia for naval cooperation. PASSEX is a passage exercise of naval ships which aimed at fostering greater cooperation and sharing of best practices with friendly foreign navies.
India and the EU mutually agreed on their cooperation in International front. This included multilateral talks with Myanmar to enable the return of the displaced persons from all communities to Northern Rakhine State and support for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding the Iranian nuclear issue.
India and EU discussed towards timely relaunching negotiations for comprehensive India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).
An Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU investments in India and the South Asian Regional Representative Office of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in India were established.
Both sides welcomedthe G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue as an ideal platform for knowledge exchange and promotion of resource efficiency at global level.
Leaders acknowledged the progress in implementing the India-EU Water Partnership.
The Leaders welcomed the imminent operationalisation of the 2008 Horizontal Civil Aviation Agreement which will enhance air connectivity between India and Europe.
The leaders emphasised that there is a need to work towards strengthening cooperation on skill development and higher-education by creating synergy between India’s GIAN programme and the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.
The Erasmus+ programme offers financing opportunities for institutional cooperation to Indian universities through short-term mobility and capacity building projects.
India has been the number one beneficiary of Erasmus mobility actions in the world since its creation.
