The 13th Summit between the European Union and India took place in Brussels on 30 March 2016. Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, participated in the Summit. The EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission, Ms. Federica Mogherini, and the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, also attended. They agreed on a Joint Summit Statement.
The leaders reconfirmed their commitment to give new momentum to the bilateral relationship endorsing the EU-India Agenda for Action 2020 as a common roadmap to jointly guide and strengthen the India-EU Strategic Partnership in the next five years. The agenda further builds on the shared objectives and outcomes of the Joint Action Plans of 2005 and 2008. It encompasses a wide range of areas for cooperation such as foreign and security policy, trade and investment, economy, global issues as well as people to people contacts.
Both sides decided to further strengthen the EU-India economic partnership. The EU’s Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change and India’s “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” – (“Collective Efforts, Inclusive Growth”) initiatives create new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between people and businesses on both sides. The leaders welcomed that both sides have re-engaged in discussions on how to further the EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiations. The EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for 13% of India’s overall trade (in 2015 the total value of EU-India trade in goods reached €77.5 billion) and also first foreign investor. The EU welcomed India’s readiness to establish a mechanism to facilitate investments of all EU Member States in India.
The EU and India decided to step up their cooperation to fight climate change and adopted the ‘Joint Declaration between the EU and India on a Clean Energy and Climate Partnership’. It is key to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and will trigger a renewed climate dialogue with India. It intends to reinforce energy cooperation, mainly on renewable energy sources, promote clean energy generation and increased energy efficiency.
Establishment of the Clean Energy and Climate Partnership as well as the Indo-European Water Partnership will bring together representatives of relevant stakeholders, including the interested EU Member States and the Indian States, European and Indian institutions, businesses and civil society creating business and technology opportunities between the EU and India.
The EU and India have also agreed to intensify their cooperation on research and innovation particularly addressing current global challenges including Health. The statement highlights the extension of the India-EU Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement until 2020 and setting up of mechanisms for jointly financing research and innovation projects. The leaders also encouraged increasing links between the ‘Digital India’ initiative and the EU’s ‘Digital Single Market’ through enhanced cooperation in cybersecurity, ICT standardisation, Internet Governance, research, and innovation.
The Leaders reaffirmed the G20’s key role in achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth to the benefit of citizens and recognised the importance of implementing the comprehensive agenda adopted at the G-20 Summit in November 2015. The leaders also agreed to start a dialogue on swift implementation of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development and of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.