External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday inaugurated the maiden edition of the India Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave hosted in partnership by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ministry of External Affairs. The conclave is scheduled to be held in Delhi from February 28 to March 1.

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Jaishankar was joined on stage by CII President Sanjiv Bajaj, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee and the foreign ministers of Denmark and Czech Republic — Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Jan Lipavský, respectively. On the days leading up to the event, the minister individually met with the two as well. He also called upon the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark on Monday on their India visit.

Speaking at today's inauguration, Jaishankar said that the European Union is one of India's largest and most important trading partners, and that the two sides share common concerns of climate change and global warming.

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While businesses play a primary role in driving sustainability, the enabler is a larger partnership between India and Europe, he said. Given this, an India-EU free trade agreement would be a game changer, the external affairs minister said.

In June last year, India and the European Union restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement after a gap of over eight years. Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed agreement have witnessed many hurdles as both sides had major differences on crucial issues.

"When it comes to green transition, clean energy is key to India-EU partnership," Jaishankar said.

The minister also said that the conclave included the three pillars representing the three working groups announced within the India-EU Trade and Technology Council — trade, green transition and digital partnership.

Jaishankar also added that India is expected to be the only major economy to keep growing in the foreseeable future. Danish FM Rasmussen echoed his thoughts saying that he was impressed by the nation's green transition progress since 2019.

"India's success will be the world's success," Jaishankar said.

The event comes in the backdrop of the two sides having formally relaunched negotiations on the India-EU and India-UK Trade Agreement and serves as a strong signal that they are taking steps towards an ambitious trade agenda to deepen bilateral relations.

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The two-day long event brings together senior ministers, policy makers and business leaders from India and around 45 European nations including partner country Denmark. It will feature bilateral and regional discussions cutting across several sectors including but not limited to healthcare, IT, education, agriculture and power and energy.

Businesses from both sides have also been invited to connect, share and exchange ideas and explore potential areas of collaboration, the CII website reads.

The conclave is focused on strengthening the India-Europe partnership amid changing geopolitical situations such as the Russia-Ukraine war. Per the website, sessions at the event will follow four tracks: future business, sustainability, trade and investment and digitalisation.

First Published:Feb 28, 2023 2:22 PM IST