The Ninth India-EU Human Rights Dialogue was held on April 12, 2021 in New Delhi in pursuance of the decision taken at the 15th India-European Union Summit in July 2020.

The Human Rights Dialogue was co-chaired by Sandeep Chakravorty, joint secretary for Europe West in the ministry of external affairs of India and Ugo Astuto, ambassador of the European Union to India.

Highlights of the Dialogue:

• India and the European Union reiterated their commitment to the shared principles and values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and respect for human rights.

• As the world’s two largest democracies, India and the EU reiterated their commitment to human rights. In this context, they emphasised the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights.

• The European Union reiterated its opposition to capital punishment in all cases and without exception.

• During the Dialogue, the participants exchanged views on strengthening human rights, including in social, economic and cultural spheres. They discussed civil and political rights, freedom of religion or belief, women empowerment, children’s rights, rights of minorities and vulnerable groups. 

• The two sides discussed enhancing India-EU cooperation in international fora, particularly at the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). In this regard, the Indian delegation proposed to hold regular exchanges between their respective permanent missions to the UN based in Geneva and to explore cooperation at the UNHRC.

• Both parties look forward to the next edition of the Dialogue next year.

India-EU relations

• India-EU relations date back to the early 1960s with India being amongst the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community in 1962. 

• A Joint Political statement signed in 1993 followed by the Cooperation Agreement between India and the EU in 1994 expanded ties from the pillar of trade and economic cooperation and enabled political dialogue and annual ministerial meetings.

High-level engagements:

• Over the years, a multi-tiered institutional architecture for cooperation with the EU has been created with the summit at its apex. The first India-EU Summit was held in Lisbon in 2000 which marked a watershed in the development of the relationship. 

• Since then, 15 bilateral summits have been held between India and the EU. 

• The relationship was upgraded to a ‘Strategic Partnership’ during the fifth India-EU Summit held at The Hague in 2004.

• On July 15, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the 15th India-EU Summit, virtually, along with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. The Summit provided a new strategic roadmap upto 2025 to comprehensively upgrade the relationship, including establishing new dialogue mechanisms on bilateral trade and investment and maritime security. 

Trade and Investment:

• The EU remains one of the top trade and investment partners of India.

• India is the EU’s 10th largest trading partner, accounting for 1.9 per cent of EU total trade in goods in 2019. 

• Trade in goods between the EU and India increased by 72 per cent in the last decade.

• At 17.31 per cent of the total FDI flows to India, the EU is the largest source of FDI. 

• An Investment Facilitation Mechanism promotes and facilitates FDI inflows from the EU. 

• Indian investments into the EU are estimated at €50 billion.

• Some 6,000 European companies are present in India, providing directly 1.7 million jobs and indirectly five million jobs in a broad range of sectors.

• India and the EU began negotiations on a bilateral Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) in 2007. India and the EU expect to promote bilateral trade by removing barriers to trade in goods and services and investment across all sectors of the economy.

Science and Research:

• India-EU Science & Technology Steering Committee meets annually to review scientific cooperation. 

• India and European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) signed a cooperation agreement in the field of fusion energy research in 2009. India is a participant in ITER, an experimental fusion reactor facility in Cadarache (France) to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion as a future source of energy. 

• ISRO has a long standing cooperation with the European Union, since the 1970s. ISRO and the European Space Agency are working towards enhancing cooperation in earth observation.

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