India, EU to pursue tech cooperation

New Delhi, May 10

Having kept the human rights issue aside by discussing it in a separate format, India and the European Union (EU) have decided to pursue negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Investment Protection Agreement and Agreement on Geographical Indications as well as pursue the technology cooperation track in a joint statement at the end of their fourth Strategic Partnership Review Meeting held here.

The meeting reviewed the entire gamut of the India – EU bilateral relationship detailed in the ‘India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025’ agreed during the 15th India – EU Summit in 2020.

India and the EU also went through the extensive review of their successful bilateral relationship also in the context of the meetings organised by India under its G20 presidency.

Jibe at Pakistan

In a broadside at Pakistan, the joint statement condemned terrorism and violent extremism “in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border attacks”

Issues considered extraneous figured sparingly in the joint statement. On human rights, it said “the EU and India” talked about the perspectives for a safer, prosperous and more democratic world. “They commended the resumption in 2021 of the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue and committed to holding it on an annual basis,” it said.

On the military conflict in Europe, Russia was not mentioned in the joint statement. Instead it “underscored the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter and international law.”

“Both sides emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency and peaceful resolution of disputes,” it added.

In a broadside at Pakistan, the joint statement condemned terrorism and violent extremism “in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border attacks”. In an oblique reference to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, they emphasised that “connectivity projects (must) respect sovereignty and territorial integrity”.