NEW DELHI: India and the European Union (EU) should use the G20 Summit to “drive forward the multilateral trade agenda at a time of global turbulence”, EU executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday.
Dombrovskis, who is also the EU commissioner for trade, will visit India during August 22-27 to attend the G20 trade and investment ministers’ meeting in Jaipur and to co-chair the India-EU high level dialogue on trade and investment with commerce minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. He will also meet finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
India is set to host the G20 Summit during September 9-10. The grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies, which includes the EU, will meet amid deep divisions within the world community over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement ahead of his departure for India, Dombrovskis described India as a “key partner” for the EU and said: “The G20 comes just six months before the 13th ministerial conference of the WTO, so we must seize this opportunity to drive forward the multilateral trade agenda at a time of global turbulence.”
The EU looks forward to engaging “with our Indian counterparts on how we can further deepen our ties, notably by advancing our talks for a free trade agreement”, he said.
The statement said the EU aims to deepen ties with India and is “working to that end with negotiations on three ambitious agreements: a free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a geographical indications agreement”.
“Closer EU-India cooperation is symbolised through the parallel engagement in the Trade and Technology Council,” the statement said.
India is only the second country, after the US, with which the EU has established a Trade and Technology Council.
During his visit to India, Dombrovskis will also participate in a meeting with European businesses organised jointly by the EU delegation and task force to establish a Federation of European Business in India (FEBI).
The key themes of the G20 trade and investment ministers’ meeting in Jaipur, starting on Wednesday, are multilateral trade for global growth and prosperity, inclusive and resilient trade and supply chains.
On the margins of the event, Dombrovskis is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Canadian trade minister Mary Ng, US trade representative Katherine Tai, Turkish trade minister Ömer Bolat, Indonesian trade minister Zulkifli Hasan, and Japanese trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura.
