The EU tempts India with a security partnership. It would be the eighth state

The head of the European Union diplomacy Kaja Kallas decided that there are strong grounds for the EU and India to include security and defense partnership in the future. Room in the Indo -Pacific region is associated with security in Europe – she said, inaugurating the first strategic dialogue with India.

“Undoubtedly, we have entered the era of multipolaity and strategic autonomy. As two important poles of this new reality, India and the European Union have strong arguments for establishing deeper ties,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs S. Jaishankar on Tuesday in Brussels.

Kallas pointed to data exchange and actions to combat terrorism financing as areas of cooperation. As she emphasized, the Union and India are also cooperating in the area of ​​space, guaranteeing access to data from satellites. On Tuesday, both sides also agreed that in the fall there would be another dialogue – anti -terrorist.

“Looking to the future, there is a strong argument for the EU -India partnership in the field of security and defense. We already have such partnerships with seven other countries,” said the high EU representative for foreign and defense.

Until now, such agreements with the EU have concluded:

• Great Britain,
• Norway,
• Moldova,
• South Korea,
• Japan,
• Albania,
• North Macedonia.

“Today we have renewed the intention of working on this goal. Because peace and stability in the Indo -Pacific are closely related to peace and security in Europe,” said Kallas.

She added that the EU supports further conversations between India and Pakistan to reduce tensions in the region. She reminded that the EU had condemned recent terrorist attacks in the Indian part of Kashmir.

However, Jaishankar noted that in the context of Kashmir there is no conflict between two countries. “Do not think about him as an India-Pakistan conflict, but India-Terroristan,” he said.

Kallas added that EU and India are “natural partners”who together constitute a quarter of world GDP and population.

In connection with the patronist return of the United States in recent months, talks about the free trade agreement between India and the Union have accelerated. In Brussels, even in this context is about the “positive effect of Trump”, which many current trading partners such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia forces you to differentiate economic cooperation.

From Brussels Magdalena Cedro (PAP)

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