New Delhi: European Union (EU) Ambassador to India Ugo Astuto — who has twice been to Kashmir as part of the foreign envoys’ visit after the scrapping of Article 370 — said the people in the Valley are now looking towards the “organisation” of the legislative assembly and highlighted that it is crucial to have freedom of expression in democracies and open societies.
“We have interacted with a number of representatives of civil societies, many interlocutors and what we’ve heard is the expectation of further steps to be taken leading to a social, economical, political sphere, including the expectation for the organisation of the state legislative assembly,” he told ThePrint in an interview.
Astuto also said during the visit, he noted the ongoing “developments” in Kashmir and hailed the restoration of 4G connectivity there.
“We’ve taken note of a number of developments, including elections of the District Development Council and very importantly the restoration of 4G internet services. This obviously is very important as freedom of expression is a crucial issue for all open societies and democracies, including European Union and India,” he said.
The EU envoy was one of the 24 ambassadors who had gone on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the visit was aimed at enabling the foreign heads of missions to understand the ground situation in the union territory.
A similar visit was organised by the MEA in February 2020, which Astuto was also a part of.
Also read: ‘Kashmir is fine’: New group of foreign envoys visit J&K, tweet sparks controversy
EU ‘ready’ for a standalone investment pact with India
With talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU in limbo since 2013, Astuto said the 27-nation bloc is “ready” to discuss a standalone investment pact with New Delhi.
“The EU is one of the largest investors in India and I believe such an investment agreement would be welcome by industry on both sides. It could help in attracting long-term quality investment. So from our side, we would be ready to launch or consider launching negotiations on a standalone investment agreement,” he added.
Astuto said all these will now be discussed separately as different working groups have been created for discussing trade and investment matters.
The decision to set up various working groups was taken recently during a ‘High Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment’ between India and the EU that took place between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade of EU, in February.
The decision to establish the High Level Dialogue had been taken by both partners during the 15th EU-India Summit held virtually on 15 July 2020 — after a gap of two years.
The 16th EU-India Summit is scheduled to take place in May this year for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Portugal.
India and the EU began negotiating the FTA, officially called the ‘Broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement’ (BTIA), in 2007.
The BTIA was proposed to encompass trade in goods, services and investments. However, talks got suspended in May 2013 as the two sides could not agree on some critical issues such as slashing of tariffs on automobiles, wines and spirits, and free movement of professionals.
The EU is India’s largest trading partner accounting for 11.1 per cent of the country’s total trade, according to official statistics.
In 2016, the Narendra Modi government suspended all investments pacts with EU countries as New Delhi came out with a new model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) text.
Since then, Brussels, EU headquarters, has been pushing New Delhi to conclude the investment pacts first, but India is opposed to the idea as it wants to discuss that as part of the trade negotiations.
During the 16th summit, both sides are expected to further their talks on all aspects of the relationship between EU and India.
‘EU actively interested in engaging in Indo-Pacific region’
This year, PM Modi is also expected to meet all the leaders of the 27-member states in Portugal on the sidelines of the summit.
“At the last summit in July 2020, our leaders agreed on a very ambitious roadmap to 2025 — a roadmap which includes vast spectrum of topics from maritime security to connectivity, research and innovation, resource efficiency, but also a key priority area for both EU and India is the fight against climate change, against biodiversity laws and perspectives of the digital transitions,” Astuto said.
He added that issues concerning the Indo-Pacific strategic initiative will also be discussed during the summit as the EU sees this region as “key” for Europe.
“It’s a fact that the evolution of the Indo-Pacific region is key for Europe and for the rest of the world for that matter, as a dynamic centre for economic growth and innovation. So it’s a region where the EU has an active interest to engage and to cooperate,” he said.
Out of the 27-member countries, only France, Germany and the Netherlands have come out with their own Indo-Pacific strategy.
Also read: 24 foreign envoys arrive in Srinagar to assess situation post revocation of Article 370
‘China an economic competitor, systemic rival’
According to the EU envoy, Europe is following a “multifaceted approach” when it comes to China.
Last year in December, the EU and China signed a ‘Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)’ despite rising tensions with Xi Jinping’s regime over security and strategic issues.
The deal is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament and approved by the EU Council before it can be implemented.
“We believe this agreement will improve and give fairer treatment to EU companies in China while upholding our core values. But more broadly, we reiterated that the EU will continue to conduct its policy vis-a-vis China in line with the multifaceted approach, which has been endorsed by European Council last year,” Astuto said.
“China for us is simultaneously a negotiating partner and an economic competitor and a systemic rival. So this requires a flexible and dramatic approach for the principle defence of EU interests and values,” he added.
(Edited by Debalina Dey)
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