India, EU reaffirm strategic partnership at 3rd Trade and Technology Council

India and the European Union (EU) on Wednesday held the third meeting of their Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Brussels, reaffirming the TTC as a central platform for cooperation on trade, technology and security.

The meeting was co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency Maroš Šefčovič.

On the Indian side, it was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

During the meeting, India and EU reaffirm their shared commitment to deepening digital cooperation under Working Group 1 on strategic technologies, digital governance, and digital connectivity.

They agreed on the need to continue technical work to improve interoperability of digital trust services, develop a practical cooperation framework on semiconductors, share best practices on AI adoption, explore enhancing cooperation in high-performance computing (HPC) and quantum technologies, support the mobility of skilled ICT workers, and intensify coordination on next generation telecom and 6G standardisation.

Building on the signing of the Administrative Arrangement on Advanced Electronic Signatures and Seals in January 2026, India and the EU intend to continue technical exchanges to improve interoperability and mutual recognition of e-signatures. They will advance dialogue on digital wallet interoperability, including business wallets, and explore a pilot linking the EU Digital Identity Wallet and the Indian DigiLocker for citizens and entities, based on jointly agreed use cases.

Both sides will continue exploring best practices for AI adoption, including by advancing governance approaches for emerging AI applications, with healthcare as a potential focus area. They also agreed to explore the development of a joint artificial intelligence roadmap.

They agreed to continue to advance cooperation on HPC, including through a coordinated India-EU project supporting joint R&D and knowledge exchange in the areas of natural hazards, climate change, and bioinformatics. India and the EU will explore expanding joint activities in HPC and explore collaboration in the field of quantum technologies.

Moreover, India and the EU welcome the rapid progress in taking forward the initiatives in the area of research and innovation agreed at the Summit. The two sides are poised to commence formal negotiations on India’s association to Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship EUR 93.5 billion research and innovation funding programme, with a view to advancing the negotiations constructively in accordance with their respective internal procedures and requirements and with the aim to conclude these before the end of 2026.

This is a historic and strategic shift towards a long-term institutional framework of cooperation between both sides, which will allow Indian researchers and innovators to fully participate in the programme as from 2027.

The two sides are also ready to set up the first ever India-EU Innovation Hub, that will focus on ‘Electric Vehicle Charging Technologies and Testing’, driven by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Automotive Research Association of India.

This will become an operational platform bringing together research capacity, testing infrastructure and standards expertise, connecting with startup ecosystems from both sides. It may unlock bilateral market opportunities, in line with the India-EU Free Trade Agreement.

Furthermore, the US and India the European Union and India reaffirm their commitment to deepening economic cooperation within Working Group 3 on Trade, Investment, and Resilient Value Chains. In an increasingly complex geopolitical and economic environment, both sides stress the importance of collaborative action to foster shared prosperity, mitigate global disruptions, and build sustainable, future-ready value chains.

India and the EU will continue to work to enhance the resilience of value chains by prioritising transparency, predictability, diversification, security and sustainability. In the agri-food, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and clean technologies sectors, both sides continue to engage on addressing vulnerabilities, promoting innovation and strengthening supply chains.

Recognising the urgency of food security amid growing global challenges and impacts of climate change, India and the EU will exchange experiences on contingency planning in the agri-food sector, leveraging lessons learnt from the COVID-19 crisis. To safeguard the stability of supply chains of active pharmaceutical ingredients, both sides will continue discussions on supply chain resilience.