European Union assures India it is ‘reliable’ partner

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas assured India of a reliable partnership in multilateralism during talks with S Jaishankar, highlighting a new strategy to deepen India-EU ties across trade, security, and global issues.

New York: European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas has assured India that it is a “reliable” partner working together on upholding multilateralism during a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Along with Brazil’s Minister Mauro Vieira Juan and Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Ramon de la Fuente, she attended a meeting with EU foreign ministers on Monday.

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After the meeting, Kallas, whose formal title is High Representative for Foreign Affairs, posted on X: “The message to our partners was simple: the EU is a reliable actor. We support multilateralism, free trade and a world grounded in the UN Charter.”

Jaishankar, in his X post on the meeting, said: “Pleased to meet EU foreign ministers at their informal meeting today.”

It was “an opportunity to have an open exchange of views on multilateralism, India-EU partnership, Ukraine conflict, Gaza, energy and trade,” he wrote.

At a news conference, Kallas said: “The EU’s relations with Brazil, India, and Mexico are important economically, but also for Europe protecting the rules-based international order.”

“Multilateral order is really something that we all need to defend, and the UN Charter is at its core,” she said.

She mentioned the EU’s “new blueprint to deepen ties with India” that was unveiled last week.

Laying the foundation for long-term ties between India and the EU, the strategy has five pillars: trade, investment, technology and sustainability; defence and security; connectivity and global issues; and coordination on labour mobility.

Earlier on Wednesday, the EU unveiled a new strategic agenda to significantly ramp up its engagement with India in a range of key areas such as defence, trade, and energy, and to jointly tackle major global challenges.

The EU said its closer partnership with India is increasingly becoming vital in the wake of shifting geopolitical realities and that it is prudent for the two sides to strengthen economic growth and security.