Brussels/New Delhi, June 12 (FN Bureau) India and the EU held their first-ever Security and Defence Consultations in Brussels during which they discussed increasing India-EU cooperation in maritime security and also cooperation in co-development and co-production of defence equipment. The discussions took place in Brussels on June 10, and were held pursuant to a decision taken at the India-EU summit in July 2020. The consultations were co-chaired by Somnath Ghosh, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence and Sandeep Chakravorty, Joint Secretary (Europe West), Ministry of External Affairs from the Indian side, and Joanneke Balfoort, Director Security and Defence Policy from the EU side.
The wide ranging discussions covered the evolving security situation in Europe, India’s neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific. The two sides noted a number of positive developments in the area of security and defence cooperation in recent years, including establishment of a regular maritime security dialogue, which met for the second time in February 2022, the first-ever joint naval exercises held in June 2021, and a number of joint workshops on the subject of fostering maritime security, a statement by the Indian embassy in Brussels said.
During the consultations, the two sides also discussed various means of increasing India-EU cooperation on maritime security, implementation of the European code of conduct on arms export to India’s neighborhood, cooperation in co-development and co-production of defence equipment including India’s participation in PESCO — Permanent Structured Cooperation which is part of the European Union’s security and defence policy in which 25 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration. Both sides agreed to increase India-EU defence and security cooperation as an important pillar of the bilateral strategic relations. The next consultations will be held in Delhi at a mutually agreed convenient time.