The European Union (EU) and India have held their first ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) to deepen the strategic partnership on trade and technology. The TTC is an important platform that will address key trade, trusted technology, and security challenges between the two countries. The meeting was co-chaired by Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis on the EU side, and on the Indian side by Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs; Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry; and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology. High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton also participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, the EU and India agreed to cooperate on quantum and High-Performance Computing research and development projects. They also pledged to seek cooperation on trustworthy Artificial Intelligence and coordinate their policies with regards to the strategic semiconductors sector through a dedicated Memorandum of Understanding. The EU and India will work towards bridging the digital skills gap, and promoting exchange on digital talent. Both partners will engage on 5G, telecoms and Internet of Things standardisation, enhance the interoperability of their respective digital public infrastructures, and promote secure, privacy-preserving solutions to the benefit of developing countries.
Moreover, the EU and India will focus on waste water management, including plastic litter and waste to hydrogen; recycling of batteries for e-vehicles and standards through pre-normative research, with an aim to increase research efforts in view of safe and sustainable development. Both parties agreed to deepen their common work on resilient value chains, work to resolve bilateral market access issues and exchange information on each other’s mechanisms on foreign direct investment screening. They will also address global and multilateral trade issues, with particular emphasis on the World Trade Organization. The two sides have also agreed to intensify their engagement on carbon border measures.
The EU and India already enjoy a robust trading relationship, with the EU accounting for €120 billion worth of trade in goods in 2022 or 10.8% of total Indian trade. Trade in services between the EU and India reached €40 billion in 2021. The next ministerial meeting is planned for early 2024 in India, and working groups will meet regularly in the meantime to deliver on the abovementioned political priorities. The partnership with India is one of the most important relationships for the upcoming decade, and strengthening this partnership, including through the TTC, is a priority.