India, EU set to elevate strategic ties with security and defence partnership

At the 16th India-EU Summit today, PM Narendra Modi will hold restricted and delegation-level discussions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.

An India-EU Business Forum will also take place alongside the summit.

The meeting will broadly focus on trade, defence and security cooperation, climate action, critical technologies, and reinforcing the rules-based global order.

In addition to advancing the free trade agreement (FTA), both sides are expected to roll out a defence framework pact and announce a strategic agenda.

The summit is being co-chaired by the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the European Council and European Commission.

The previous summit was conducted virtually in July 2020.

A subsequent leaders' meeting involving representatives from all 27 EU member states was held in Porto, Portugal, in May 2021, with the Prime Minister participating virtually.

India and the EU are also examining the possibility of concluding a Security of Information Agreement (SOIA) and a mobility pact.

Agreements in other sectors are anticipated, while discussions are also expected to cover the Russia-Ukraine conflict and developments in West Asia.

Negotiations on the FTA were initially launched in 2007 but were paused in 2013 due to differences in ambition, before being revived in June 2022.

Bilateral ties between India and the EU have steadily expanded across areas including trade, investment, climate change, science and technology, space, digital cooperation, mobility and connectivity.

In February last year, the EU College of Commissioners led by von der Leyen visited New Delhi, marking the first such visit to any partner country outside Europe.

Von der Leyen, along with then European Council President Charles Michel, had earlier travelled to India for the G20 Summit in September 2023, while she also undertook an official visit in April 2022.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Brussels in June last year for the inaugural India-EU Strategic Dialogue.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in Brussels in January, while EU Commissioner for Trade Marcos Sefcovic visited India in December 2025.

Goyal met the EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity in Berlin in October 2025.

In September 2025, EU Commissioners for Trade and Agriculture travelled to India and held meetings with him.

Beyond trade and defence, the third phase of the India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership (CECP), launched in 2016, was adopted in November 2024.

The EU became a partner organisation of the International Solar Alliance in 2018 and joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in March 2021.

The European Investment Bank continues to back India's climate and energy transition through funding for sustainable transport and urban mobility projects, including urban rail and metro systems.

Cooperation also extends to offshore wind energy, gas infrastructure development, methane emission reduction, investment, and technology transfer.

In July 2020, India's Department of Atomic Energy and EURATOM signed an agreement on research and development collaboration for peaceful nuclear applications.

The India-EU Connectivity Partnership, launched in 2021, concentrates on transport, digital and energy networks, as well as facilitating flows of people, goods, services, data and capital.

Both sides agreed in June 2025 on an administrative arrangement for trilateral development cooperation on projects in third countries.

Scientific collaboration is guided by the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in 2007, with a joint steering committee advancing projects in smart grids, water, vaccines, polar science and the mobility of young scientists linked with the European Research Council.

Under the India-EU Water Partnership, adopted in 2016, a joint working group reviews developments in water policy.

The sixth EU-India Water Forum was held in New Delhi in September 2024.

On space cooperation, the EU Commissioner for Defence and Space met India's Minister of State for Science and Technology in New Delhi in February 2025.

The first India-EU Space Dialogue was convened in Brussels in November 2025.

Isro and the European Space Agency signed a joint statement of intent on cooperation in human space exploration in May 2025.

On migration and mobility, the ninth India-EU High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Mobility was hosted in New Delhi in November 2025. (ANI)