The Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC), the Brussels-based body that promotes bilateral trade between the European Union and India, in a letter to Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva has said that Portugal, which will take over the presidency for the European Council, has a "historic opportunity to create a framework and chart out future roadmap to bring EU and India closer beyond ‘strategic partners.’”

In a letter, written by Sunil Prasad, secretary-general EICC, which promotes trade and economic relations between the EU and India, said as India is rapidly emerging as a strategic player at the global level, it is in the interest of EU and India to enhance their mutual collaboration.

“EU’s relations with India is neither complex nor consequential but managing it requires careful calibration with long term vision. The EU, therefore, cannot afford to remain an ‘exclusive club’ and still exert its power and influence in a changing world," he said as Portugal is set to take at the Presidency for the European Council, a collegiate body that defines the overall political directions and priorities of the EU, for the fourth time since it joined the EU.

“This is where EU and India have an opportunity to embrace each other and jointly shape the new world order. As in 2000, your upcoming Presidency, too, has an historic opportunity to create a framework and chart out a future roadmap to bring EU and India closer beyond ‘strategic partners,’ Prasad said in the letter.

He also stressed that “the EU needs to reinvent itself and embrace the challenges of change as it confronts the evolving of new trans-Atlantic strategic architecture.”  

Talking about the challenges posed by COVID-19 that has ravaged the world, he said, the post-pandemic world is going to be different.

"Though there are positive signs of the availability of COVID vaccine within a matter of weeks, the shadow of the pandemic and the economic and social distress caused by it will remain with us for a long time to come.

“We believe that in any post-pandemic world order that emerges, India, which is home to one-sixth of humanity, ought to occupy an important place. 

He said that in today's world, the EU and India face multiple new global challenges and have a considerable and shared stake in the future security and the economic and diplomatic configuration in the international space.

“As India has emerged as a global power and a key player in the geo-strategic and security matrix of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, the current geopolitical dynamics of the international system requires the EU and India to coordinate their actions together.

“A tectonic shift in the fabric of the geopolitical landscape is fast taking place and we hope that EU and India remain on the same page in the geo-strategic space-time continuum.”

He said the first-ever EU-India summit was held in Lisbon on June 28, 2000, during Portugal’s presidency. "..the summit was a landmark in EU-India ties as it served as the genesis of the strategic partnership which EU and India have built, allowing the two largest democracies to collectively change the geopolitical and economic dynamics of the new global order.”

He also expressed concern that the “EU’s fundamental values are under threat by internal and external forces.” 

“The EU’s strategic dialogue with Pakistan in November, in the midst of violent demonstrations against France in several cities of Pakistan, is a living example of how such flawed actions are damaging the EU’s basic values and unity.

“The risk for EU in the next decade is not of disintegration, not even the impact of Brexit, not of war or hunger but the gradual and steady decline of its global influence due to misguided and directionless policies. “

The EU and India, he said, have been discussing a free trade agreement (FTA) since 2007, but no significant progress has been visible.

Speaking about China and its growing influence in EU, Prasad, said that “China which lies at the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic must be held accountable for its lack of transparency and cooperation in sharing information on the realities of the outbreak, including its transmission and spread.

“EU must deal firmly with China even though its economy remains heavily dependent on China for its supply-chain.”

He added that during the last three decades, the EU has become over-dependent on China which has allowed military-led Chinese business, spread its footprints in every sector of the European economy.

He also proposed to jointly mount “some path-breaking business and civil society events” aimed at building the momentum in both the European and Indian societies.