Porto (Portugal) (AFP)
The European Union and New Delhi will strengthen their relations at a summit on Saturday with the resumption of negotiation of a free trade agreement and increased cooperation in the field of health, as the India is overwhelmed by the pandemic.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to join the leaders of the 27 gathered in Porto, but was forced to cancel his trip due to the health crisis.
The meeting will take place by videoconference from 1:00 p.m. local (12:00 p.m. GMT).
It is to last two hours and conclude with the adoption of a joint declaration and the announcement of the resumption of trade negotiations.
Vaccine producers and considered the "pharmacies of the world", the EU and India will also take a stand on the need for global responses to the next pandemics.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel will push his proposal for an international treaty, said his entourage.
EU countries have immediately sent medical aid worth some 100 million euros to the Asian giant of 1.3 billion inhabitants, to the health system overwhelmed by the outbreak of case of Covid-19.
"We must improve global production capacity and guarantee access to vaccine components", argue the Europeans.
Narendra Modi could plead with the 27, divided on the question, in favor of a lifting of the patents, after the American position taken in this direction.
Maintaining the summit at the level of the leaders of the 27 "is a strong political signal to India," a European official assured AFP.
"There is a dynamic, because there is a convergence of interests", for his part underlined a European diplomat.
"The EU wants to strengthen its relations with a major player as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy. India has for its part seen the cards reshuffled in its area with the conclusion of agreements by China which it does not do party, and it needs partnerships with other actors. We must seize this opportunity, "he explained.
China will be "the elephant in the room," another diplomat noted.
The announcement of the resumption of negotiations with India comes as the investment agreement reached at the end of 2020 with Beijing was suspended due to tensions over human rights.
- "Not a junior partner" -
"India has chosen to invest more in its relationship with the EU because of China and Brexit which forces New Delhi to no longer consider London as its only entry into the EU", explains the head of the European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
London also wants to start negotiating a free trade agreement with India in the fall, the British government said.
The EU is not starting from scratch with New Delhi.
"The announcement expected on Saturday is the official resumption of discussions suspended in 2013, on the basis of the existing mandate, and the objective is to cover all areas of trade," said a senior European official.
"It will not be easy or quick to obtain," he admitted.
Especially since the EU will not evade issues related to human rights, he assured.
"India is a very protectionist country and even if it is a great democracy, questions of human rights are very sensitive and Indians are easily held up", confirmed the European official consulted by AFP.
But the will to cooperate is real and concrete announcements are planned, in particular an agreement on the protection of geographical indications, a partnership on connectivity with investments in transport and infrastructure, cooperation commitments for maritime security in the region. and the fight against cybercrime.
"This does not mean that the EU and India will form a block between the United States and China," warned the European official.
"India is a non-aligned country, linked to the United States within the framework of the + Quad + (informal alliance between the United States, Japan, India and Australia, Editor's note), but it does not want to be a + junior partner + and on this point, he is joining the EU ", he explained.
© 2021 AFP