Europe Is Truly a Priority for India: EAM Jaishankar at India Europe Business Conclave

The age of AI, electric vehicles, smart cities and smart technologies has impacted our daily lives, said EAM S Jaishankar, addressing India Europe Business Conclave in Delhi. "Certainly a lot of what we are doing, we believe today that there are opportunities for European companies," the EAM said.

New Delhi: Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, while speaking at the inaugural session of the 2nd CII India Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave on Wednesday, in New Delhi said Europe is truly a priority for India.

In his remarks, he said, “The Prime Minister of India during his tenure has been 27 times to Europe. He has received 37 heads of European governments. I have visited Europe 29 times and I have received 36 of my colleagues during this period. I underline these numbers to emphasize how deep, how sustained, and how continuous the relationship has been.”

The External Affairs Minister said six broad elements drive the world economy -- production and consumption, connectivity and logistics, technology, demographics, values and comforts, and architecture or framework to do business.

“In a digital age, we all appreciate the importance of trust and transparency, this is the age of AI, it is the age of Electric Vehicles, it is the age of critical and emerging technologies, of space, and of smart cities and smart technologies. We see this reflected in our daily lives, in the economic developments that surround us, and certainly a lot of what we are doing, we believe today that there are opportunities for European companies,” the minister remarked.

Speaking about human skilling and mobility, Dr. Jaishankar said: “We have in the last few years concluded several agreements on mobility with our European partners, and the plus point of these agreements is that one, they promote legal movement and two, they promote movement of certain skillsets. So, it is something that fits in very neatly with the consumer requirement at the other end as well.”

He also underlined the importance of concluding free trade agreements with the European Union and EFTA. “It is important because you can already see that our trade levels have been growing steadily, but there is a well-founded realization that we need a more positive framework to accelerate it," he noted.

Talking about connectivity and climate change, the minister said that apart from the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, a polar route could open up a different logistical pathway between India and Europe that would go through the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar in his speech pointed out that Nordic-Baltic FMs will meet soon, and hoped for a similar meeting with FMs of Mediterranean countries.

Read More