At their 14th summit, in New Delhi on Friday 6 October, the leaders of the EU and India will try to advance their bilateral cooperation on foreign and security policy, migration, energy and climate, research and innovation, and sustainable urbanisation. They will also try again to give fresh momentum to the laborious EU-India free trade negotiations, which have been on hold since 2013.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the EU delegation, which is being led by European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
Their meeting is expected to "strengthen the strategic partnership by confirming the momentum of the 2016 EU-India summit", which resulted in the EU-India Agenda for Action 2020 establishing joint goals for cooperation in areas such as foreign and security policy, trade and investment, the economy and global issues, as well as people-to-people contacts, a European diplomat told EUROPE on Tuesday 3 October.
Cautious optimism for resumption of free trade talks. On the trade front, the two parties will assess the state of progress in the difficult talks for a bilateral trade and investment agreement (BTIA). These talks were launched in 2007 but were put on hold in mid-2013 (after 16 rounds of negotiations) ahead of the general elections in India in spring 2014 that brought Modi to power. At that time, the two parties had not been able to iron out their differences on several key chapters (see EUROPE 10931). On Friday, the leaders will discuss the next steps to ensure the relaunch of these talks, which the previous summit did not manage to stimulate.
While European diplomats are cautiously optimistic about the political resolve of the Indian side, a technical-level review meeting has already been planned in November in order to assess the ambitions of both sides for the resumption of the talks, EUROPE was told on Tuesday.
The stumbling blocks are still the same: the EU wants a more accommodating position from India with regard to its tariff ambitions (in the automobile sector, wines and spirits, and also agriculture), access to public procurement, and protection of geographical indications. India meanwhile wants better access to the EU market for its service providers and a softening of visa regimes to enable its qualified workers, especially IT specialists, to move freely within the EU.
The issue of investment protection is also a key question, especially as India's decision of summer 2016 to stop its bilateral investment treaties with European countries will not have an immediate effect on existing investments (which will continue to be protected for 10-15 years) but could affect new investments.
In the investment plank of the BTIA talks, the EU has put its reformed investment court system (ICS) on the negotiating table to arbitrate in disputes between investors and states, but India wants to incorporate its own model.
Meanwhile, with a 13.5% share of Indian trade in 2015-2016, the EU is India's biggest trading partner – far ahead of China (10.8%) and the USA (9.3%). India is the EU's ninth biggest trading partner, behind South Korea and ahead of Canada.
In 2016 bilateral trade in goods stood at €77.1 billion (€37.8 billion in exports for the EU and €39.3 in exports for India) and in 2015 trade in services stood at €28.1 billion (including €14.4 billion in exports for the EU). EU investment stocks in India stood at €51.2 billion in 2015 and those of India in the EU stood at €15.9 million.
Increased cooperation in sustainable development, with EIB assistance. The New Delhi summit will hail the launch of an investment facilitation mechanism for EU investors in India and the strong commitment of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in India, especially in the areas of renewable energy and urban transport (see EUROPE 11759). The summit will also lead to the signature of an EIB loan for the development of urban transport.
The European and Indian leaders will also adopt joint statements on energy and the climate, and on sustainable urbanisation. Their statements will aim to strengthen bilateral cooperation on environmentally-friendly technology as part of the development of smart cities in India.
The summit is also expected to strengthen cooperation on research and innovation, with the signature of an implementation agreement between the European Research Council and the Scientific and Engineer Research Board (SERB) to strengthen collaboration between the EU and India on research.
Increased cooperation in foreign and security policy. In the area of policy, progress is expected on security cooperation. "In general, people focus on trade (between the EU and India) but foreign and security policy is important", a senior European official stated, announcing the signature at the summit of a joint statement on counter-terrorism – the objective of which is to improve cooperation to fight against the financing of terrorism, and to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism.
The EU and India also want to deepen their cooperation on maritime security. New Delhi is interested in escorting vessels from the World Food Programme in the Gulf of Aden with the support of the EU operation to fight piracy, Atalanta.
The EU and India are also expected to discuss migration and mobility issues. While, according to EUROPE's source, the issue of visa liberalisation is not a matter of current concern, the parties will discuss illegal and legal migration. "We are working very hard with India on legal migration and mobility", the European diplomat stated (without giving further detail). The migration crisis is also due to be tackled from the angle of the exodus of Rohingya Muslims, who are fleeing Burma to take refuge in Bangladesh.
With regard to global challenges, the EU and India will reaffirm their commitment for strengthened cooperation within the G20 and implementation of the 2015 international Paris climate agreement.
The parties will also discuss issues of international policy, especially the latest developments in the neighbourhoods of the EU and India – be it Ukraine, the Korean peninsula, Afghanistan or the situation in the Middle East. According to the European source, the two parties could also discuss how to increase cooperation between the EU and India in the area of the Indian Ocean and in Africa. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry et Camille Cerise Gessant)