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President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit India on February 27-28, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Saturday.
She will be accompanied by the European Union (EU) College of Commissioners. "This will be President Ursula von der Leyen's third visit to India. She has earlier visited India for a bilateral official visit in April 2022, and to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in September 2023. Prime Minister and President Ursula von der Leyen have also met regularly on the sidelines of multilateral meetings", the MEA statement said. The MEA noted that this will be the first time that the entire EU College of Commissioners will visit India together. It is also "among the first such visits since the start of the mandate of the current European Commission in December 2024 after the European parliamentary elections held in June 2024." During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will hold delegation-level talks with President Ursula von der Leyen. "The second ministerial meeting of the India - EU Trade and Technology Council and bilateral ministerial meetings between the European Commissioners and their Indian counterparts will also be held during the visit," the MEA, in its official statement, mentioned. India and the EU have been strategic partners since 2004. Their relationship has grown stronger in many areas, the MEA noted. "As the two sides enter the third decade of the strategic partnership, the visit of President von der Leyen and the EU College of Commissioners will pave the way for further strengthening of bilateral relations based on growing convergence," the statement said. The relationship between India and the European Union is based on shared values of democracy and rule based international multilateralism. The ties are multifaceted and cover a broad spectrum including trade, investment climate change, science and technology, digital connectivity and agriculture. (ANI)
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