India on Saturday will launch a Connectivity Partnership with the EU, aiming at furthering the cooperation on transport, energy, digital and people-to-people contacts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will collectively interact virtually with all leaders of EU member nations in the India-EU Leaders meeting in Porto, Portugal, as the meeting is first such gathering in the EU+27 format.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to give a new impetus to trade and investment negotiations between India and the EU.
The EU is India’s biggest trading partner and the second largest destination for Indian exports. Trade between the EU and India has increased 72 per cent in the last decade.
The EU is also the leading foreign investor in India. Its share in foreign investment inflows has more than doubled in the last decade. Some 6,000 European companies are present in India, generating 1.7 million direct and 5 million indirect jobs.
Growing investments from India in recent years have also meant active presence of Indian companies in the EU as well.
It is the right time, both side say, to resume negotiations toward an ambitious and balanced trade agreement capable of acting as a key driver for sustainable growth and jobs creation, both for India and Europe.
