India and the European Union advanced their bilateral agenda Sunday during talks focused on parliamentary collaboration, senior official engagements, and executing mutual priorities under their long-standing Strategic Partnership.
The meeting brought together Pranay Verma, India’s ambassador to Belgium and the EU, with Pietro Ducci, the European Parliament’s director-general for external policies. Their discussion centered on deepening inter-parliamentary dialogue and coordinating upcoming high-level visits.
Since 2004, when leaders elevated ties at the fifth India-EU Summit in The Hague, both sides have anchored the relationship in democratic values, multilateralism, and a rules-based global order. Cooperation now cuts across trade, investment, technology, security, defense, connectivity, and broader geopolitical questions.
Momentum has accelerated considerably in recent months. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar traveled to Brussels in July for the third India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting, accompanied by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and junior commerce minister Jitin Prasada.
During that visit, Jaishankar met European Council President Antonio Costa and delivered warm regards from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also conferred with Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, on West Asian stability and maritime security. Additional sessions with Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva covered research partnerships in clean energy and Horizon Europe membership, while talks with Commissioner Jozef Sikela explored connectivity initiatives including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
As a result, Sunday’s parliamentary-level discussions signal continued follow-through on commitments made during those ministerial exchanges. Both sides expect the next sequence of high-level meetings to formalize concrete implementation steps across the partnership’s expanding portfolio.
