The two sides agreed on regular engagements, aiming at quick deliverable for businesses in these tough times

India and the EU have agreed to further deepen their bilateral trade and investment relationship.

During the 1st India-EU High-Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment on Friday, both sides emphasized the importance of global cooperation and solidarity in a post COVID-19 era.

They agreed on further deepening of bilateral trade and investment relationship through a series of regular engagements, aiming at quick deliverable for the businesses in these tough times, an official statement said after the talks.

The meet was co-chaired by Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and European Union Executive Vice-President & Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri was also present.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a commitment
to the establishment of this Dialogue was a major outcome of the 15th India-EU Leader’s Summit held in July 2020. The objective was to ensure a Ministerial level guidance towards the bilateral trade and investment relations.

The Ministers also agreed to meet within the next three months, with an objective for reaching consensus on a host of bilateral trade & investment cooperation issues like a bilateral Regulatory Dialogue and an India-EU Multilateral Dialogue to explore further possibilities of cooperation, the statement said.

In a significant step forward, regular interactions for re-initiation of bilateral trade and investment agreements, with an interim agreement, to start with, were also discussed.

The Ministers concluded with the confidence and commitment towards a renewed India-EU commercial and economic partnership reflecting full potential of bilateral commercial relations, the commerce ministry statement said.