At the end of the first ministerial meeting of the European Union-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC) the two sides have agreed to use this as a platform to address important issues like security challenges, trade and trusted technology.
The ministerial meeting which took place in Brussels it was co-chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and also present were Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry; and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology. The European side was led by Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis on the EU side and they were joined by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell, as well as Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton. And both sides relied on the work of the three working groups set under TTC.
Digital governance & connectivity & Strategic technologies
To address challenges like climate change and natural disasters as well as healthcare, both India and EU will work together on quantum and High-Performance Computing research and development projects.
While expressing their commitment to cooperate on trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, India and EU have a dedicated MoU related to the strategic semiconductors sector. And to work together towards bridging the skills gap, Internet of Things standardization, engaging in 5G, Telecoms and exchanging digital talent.
For the benefit of the developing countries, India and the EU will enhance the interoperability of their respective digital public infrastructures, privacy-preserving solutions.
Green and clean energy technologies
They will cooperate on research and innovation to bring new and sustainable technologies to the market as India is working towards climate neutrality by 2020 and the EU has set 2050 as its deadline.
Water management, plastic litter, recycling of batteries for e-vehicles, waste to hydrogen; strengthen the role of start-ups, capacity and skills building are also the areas where the two sides will work together.
Investment, Trade & Value chains
The two sides have agreed to intensify their engagement on Carbon Border measures; address global and multilateral trade issues with focus on World Trade Organisation (WTO). India and EU will further deepen their cooperation on resilient value chains and also to work towards resolving bilateral market access issues.
While the TTC is going to focus on these issues it will be totally different from the ongoing negotiations for comprehensive agreement on trade, geographical indications, and investment protection.
Next year India will be the venue for the TTC meeting, while the working groups will meet regularly.
It has been reported earlier that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had announced earlier this year about the first Ministerial Meeting.
High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell has termed India as an indispensable strategic partner for the EU and added that the TTC allows the two sides to tackle strategic challenges related to security, technology and trade and also deepen bilateral cooperation.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age at the meeting said that the two sides will engage to deliver better services to citizens through digital public infrastructure. Adding that a human -centred digital transition is the starting point.
According to an official statement the TTC is expected to help increase the EU-India bilateral trade which is currently at a historical high with euro 120 billion worth of goods traded in 2022. And last year euro 17 billion of digital products and services were traded.