India-EU Summit deferred over coronavirus threat, Modi cancels trip to Brussels

The summit was scheduled to take place on 13 March to address some of the rising irritants in the relationship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a photograph with the members of European Parliament | PTI file

New Delhi: The much-awaited summit meeting between India and the European Union, which was set to take place after two years, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus threat.

The India-EU Summit was scheduled to take place on 13 March. Although it is an annual affair, it has not taken place since 2017 due to internal issues even as the bilateral relationship has turned fractious over issues on trade and investment.

“With regard to the proposed India-EU Summit, both sides have agreed that due to health authorities advising against travel between regions, it would be wise to reschedule the summit to a later mutually convenient date,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.

Kumar said the decision to defer the summit has been “taken in the spirit of the close cooperation between India and the EU who share the same concerns and commitment to global health and hope that the outbreak is contained soon”.

The summit was last held in 2017. In 2018 the summit could not be held as both sides were facing severe issues concerning bilateral trade and investments even as issues around Brexit kept the Europeans busy.

Subsequently, in 2019 both European Parliamentary as well as India’s general elections took place that left no time for both sides to pick up where they left off in 2017.

According to official sources, there were reports of an official in the EU headquarters in Brussels being tested for Covid-19. Within the EU, Covid-19 has spread mainly in Germany and Italy.

“In view of precautionary measures related to the global spread of COVID-19, the EU and India have jointly decided to postpone the EU-India summit foreseen initially for 13 March in Brussels,” said an EU official who refused to be named. “The two sides will now look to agree on a new summit date through mutual consultations. In the meantime, we will continue work on our joint agenda to make progress across all aspects of our relations.” 

India-EU free trade agreement pending since 2017

Ties between India and EU have hit turbulence since 2014 when New Delhi refused to resume negotiations with Brussels to conclude the free trade agreement, officially known as the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA). 

The talks for BTIA were launched in 2007 under the Congress-led UPA regime.

The Modi government has since been insistent on starting fresh talks with the EU. Brussels, on the other hand, wanted India to conclude the talks on the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) within the BTIA.

During the first tenure of the Modi government, then Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, cancelled all investment treaties with EU member countries as New Delhi came out with a new model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) text.

But the European Commission had refused to negotiate with India on the new model text.

Of late, the relationship once again hit a snag over the abrogation of Article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). While the EU has raised concerns over these issues, in January the Strasbourg-based European Parliament debated a joint resolution against these steps taken by the Indian government.  

However, voting on the joint resolution got deferred till 31 March – 1 April.

Last month, India took a handful of envoys from the EU countries to visit Srinagar for a first-hand experience of the place since the 5 August move.  

Post the visit, Virginie Battu-Henriksson, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said, “While we recognise the serious security concerns, it is important that the remaining restrictions be lifted swiftly.”