India-EU discuss steps to prevent irregular migration, human trafficking

New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) The seventh India-EU high-level dialogue on migration and mobility was held on Friday.

During the dialogue, both sides discussed appropriate steps that could be jointly taken to prevent and counter irregular migration, smuggling of migrants and human trafficking in accordance with respective legislative frameworks and applicable international law.

Both sides reiterated their commitment to enhance cooperation on the return of irregular migrants.

They also expressed their mutual interest in facilitating labour mobility and decent work within existing legislative frameworks and in respect of national competences.

In view of India’s growing human capital and EU Member States’ demographic and labour market needs, both sides acknowledged the need for deeper and closer engagement on mobility within the India-EU migration corridor.

In this regard, the parties discussed EU initiatives in the area of skills and talent attraction, including the European Year of Skills, EU Talent Pool and EU Blue Card.

Potential synergies with the EU-India Trade and Technology Council, especially in the area of recognising digital skills in order to facilitate the mobility of ICT specialists, were also explored.

The meeting was co-chaired by Anurag Bhushan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Johannes Luchner, Deputy Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs.

Both parties reaffirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation to promote safe, orderly and regular migration between India and the EU.

They recognised the long-standing bilateral relations between India and the EU on migration, recalled the existing Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility that was signed in 2016, and noted that a coordinated and mutually beneficial management of migration supports the economic, social and cultural development of India and the EU.

Both sides also recalled the achievements of a joint work programme supporting the Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility implemented between 2017 and 2022, which has greatly advanced cooperation between India and the EU in the area of migration and mobility.

In order to continue and further operationalise cooperation, in particular on facilitating legal migration and countering irregular migration, in line with the stated intentions of each party, a second phase of the work programme was launched in a ceremony immediately after the High-Level Dialogue.

Senior officials from the Government of India, European Commission and the International Labour Organisation and International Centre for Migration Policy Development as implementing partners, presented the project’s work plan and its broader political context to stakeholders from India and the EU in a hybrid event that took place in New Delhi and online.