New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Ursula von der Leyen on her re-election as the President of the European Commission following a crucial vote on Thursday. The Prime Minister said he was looking forward to working together to strengthen the India-EU strategic Partnership for global good.
"Congratulations, @vonderleyen, on your re-election as the President of the European Commission. Look forward to working together to strengthen the India-EU Strategic Partnership for global good," said PM Modi in a post on social media platform X. The two leaders last met at the recent G7 Summit in Italy in June, Modi's first foreign trip since his re-election in Lok Sabha.
Members of the European Parliament backed von der Leyen's bid for another five-year term at the helm of the European Union's powerful executive body with 401 votes in her favour and 284 against in a secret ballot in the 720-member chamber. She called her re-election a victory for her backers, lawmakers she called "pro-European, pro-Ukraine (and) pro-rule of law.”
Von der Leyen pledges a stronger Europe
Von der Leyen's re-election ensures leadership continuity for the 27-nation bloc as it wrestles with crises ranging from the war in Ukraine to climate change, migration and housing shortages. The 65-year-old German lawmaker said she and her supporters are working “for a strong Europe,” citing themes of prosperity, security and defence.
In an address to the Parliament in Strasbourg earlier in the day, von der Leyen laid out a programme focused on prosperity and security, shaped by the challenges of Russia's war in Ukraine, global economic competition and climate change. She stressed the need not to backtrack on the "Green Deal" transformation of the EU economy to fight climate change - a key pledge for Green lawmakers, who joined centre-right, centre-left and liberal groups in backing her for the post.
At the side of von der Leyen will be two new faces: Antonio Costa of Portugal as European Council president and Estonian PM Kaja Kallas as the foreign policy chief of the European Union. Over the past five years, von der Leyen has steered the bloc through a series of crises, including Britain's exit from the EU, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She has also pushed a Green Deal aiming to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050.
India-EU ties
India has been touted as a strong and reliable partner of the European Union in the past few years, and von Der Leyen hailed a partnership “at the nexus of trade, trusted technology, and security” during a visit to New Delhi in 2022. In March this year, India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with four European states- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
In May, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the India-EU relationship is "consequential for the world as well". He said the EU is not only "our largest economic partner," but the ties run "very deep, spanning many domains". The India-EU ties are multifaceted and cover various topics, including trade, investment, climate change, science and technology, digital, connectivity, and agriculture.
The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 124 billion euros worth of trade in goods in 2023 or 12.2 per cent of total Indian trade, exceeding that of the US and China. India is the EU’s 9th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2 per cent of the EU's total trade in goods in 2023, well behind the US (16.7 per cent), China (14.6 per cent), or the UK (10.1 per cent).
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