At their Council meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 20 October, the European foreign affairs ministers adopted conclusions on the new Strategic EU-India Agenda, calling in particular for continued discussions on “all aspects of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”.
These conclusions follow on from the European Commission’s communication presented on 17 September, which aims to define bilateral relations ahead of the final conclusion of the new joint strategic agenda (see EUROPE 13589/1), which should be adopted at an EU-India summit in early 2026.
These relations are mixed, especially since India has engaged in military exercises with Russia and is continuing to import oil from the country, amounts of which have increased since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (see EUROPE 13711/2).
While the US administration has called on India to halt its imports, against a backdrop of trade blackmail, the European Union has not adopted a firm stance on the issue.
The conclusions of the Council nevertheless call for issues to be raised with India, such as preventing the re-export of battlefield items and dual use technologies to Russia, countering illegal practices of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, and the circumvention of EU sanctions, “especially on Russian oil exports”.
The document also states that the EU stands ready to enter into a dialogue with India on energy import diversification “with the aim of securing reliable and affordable sources”.
To see the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/j1o (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)