India, EU seek to reduce strategic dependencies amid uncertainty

Neither European Union (EU) leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa nor Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi specifically mentioned either the US or China during the course of the day, even as the two sides announced 13 agreements, including a free trade deal.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Yet the joint press conference addressed by the three leaders at Hyderabad House, their respective speeches at the India-EU Business Forum later in the day, and the texts of the agreements signed pointed to a shared effort by India and the EU to reduce dependence on the US and China — as trade partners, strategic partners, or both.

At the joint press conference, European Commission President von der Leyen said the EU and India would, by combining their strengths, “reduce strategic dependencies, at a time when trade is increasingly weaponised”.

Addressing the India-EU Business Forum at Bharat Mandapam in the evening, von der Leyen described the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) as “a clear strategic choice — a choice for certainty and predictability in an uncertain world”. She said the FTA “signals that Europe and India are choosing cooperation over fragmentation, and partnership over uncertainty”.

On the need for safe and reliable supply chains, the EU leader stressed “the need to reduce dependencies and increase diversification”, including in semiconductors. She also spoke about a new initiative, Blue Valleys, aimed at boosting industrial cooperation in strategic sectors by connecting businesses, regulators, and investors. A small but successfull pilot project had been tested in Assam, she said.