Noting that the talks were held unusually on a weekend in the Belgian capital, Indian minister Goyal said this only goes to demonstrate the importance the European Union and India place on this partnership.

The Brussels-based think tank Egmont Institute, in a policy brief in April, said individual EU member States attach a lot of importance to their bilateral relationship with New Delhi and are interacting with the Indian government at the highest level. “However, visits of the leaders of the EU institutions to India are rare. One fails to see a…