EU, India Leaders Outline Plans to Boost Bilateral Cooperation in Trade, Climate Change

The EU and India are aiming to give “new momentum” to their bilateral cooperation in areas ranging from climate and energy policy to trade and investment, said leaders from both sides following a high-level meeting in Brussels on 30 March. The 13 th EU-India Summit brought together European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and comes amid growing speculation over whether the two sides will be able to reboot their long-stalled trade talks in the near-term. At the meeting, leaders endorsed the “ EU-India agenda for action 2020 ,” which outlines a series of objectives in areas such as foreign policy and security cooperation, human rights, trade and investment, and climate change and energy, among others, where they aim to cooperate in the coming years. While the document includes a section on trade, investment, business, and the economy, leaders did not make any new announcements on next steps for a planned trade deal between the two sides. However, they noted, “both sides remain engaged to discuss how to deepen their bilateral trade and investment relations in order to fully reap the benefits, including through negotiations on the Broad-based Trade and Investment...