India, EU hold strategic partnership review meeting, call for lasting peace in Ukraine

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) India and the European Union (EU), during their fourth strategic partnership review meeting, have underscored the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law.

At the meeting held on Monday, they unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border attacks.

Both sides emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency, and peaceful resolution of disputes.

Meanwhile, both India and the EU reviewed the wide ranging India-EU bilateral relationship detailed in the 'India-EU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025' agreed during the 15th India-EU Summit in 2020, official sources said.

They went through that extensive review of their successful bilateral relationship also in the context of the meetings organised by India under its G20 Presidency, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The Indian side was led by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) and the EU side was led by Helena Konig, Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, European External Action Service.

The discussions focussed on a broad range of topics covering climate, clean energy, biodiversity, circular economy, resource efficiency, smart urbanisation, trade, research and innovation, education, mobility and digital issues, including data protection.

India and the EU also discussed cooperation in the sphere of connectivity and emphasised that connectivity projects respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.

They also took stock of the ongoing negotiations for free trade agreement, investment protection agreement and the pact on geographical indications, and agreed on their importance as well as the need for full cooperation at multilateral level and of a regular bilateral dialogue on economic issues.

The two sides also reviewed the progress and scope of the newly-launched India-EU Trade and Technology Council and looked forward to a successful first Ministerial Meeting under the TTC mechanism on May 16 in Brussels.

The EU and India talked about the perspectives for a safer, prosperous and more democratic world.

They commended the resumption in 2021 of the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue and committed to holding it on an annual basis.

The two sides also expressed their commitment to their increased engagement across all areas with a view of identifying areas to strengthen cooperation, including through the global gateway, and looking into priorities for the next India-EU summit.