EU and India relaunch trade quest

EU and India relaunch trade quest

PORTO: The EU and India met at a virtual summit yesterday hoping to relaunch long-stalled trade talks and discuss how best to work together against the coronavirus pandemic battering the south Asian giant. The devastating wave of infections sweeping India has already impacted the meeting by forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap plans to fly to Portugal to see his European counterparts.

But the 27-nation bloc and the world’s largest democracy remain determined to capitalize on growing momentum for tighter relations fueled by shared concerns over the rising might of China. “I am positive that we will be able to do a major step forward because between the EU and India there is a close relationship, but also a lot of untapped potential,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “The most untapped potential is in trade and investment.”

Modi called the meeting a “moment of profound geopolitical significance” in an editorial for news site Politico co-authored with Portuguese premier Antonio Costa, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency. “We must seize this opportunity to elevate our relationship, using the huge potential of our democratic spaces to advance trade and investment ties and to support effective multilateralism and a rules-based