On Friday, India and the European Union held a security and defense consultation in Brussels. This significant move was made with the aim of focusing on cyber security, maritime awareness, terrorism, joint exercises, training modules, and threat assessments, among other issues.
The Ministry of Defence Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) Sommanth Ghosh and Sandeep Chakravorty-MEA Joint Secretary (Europe West) from India and Director Security and Defence Policy Mr. Joanneke Balfoort from the EU side, co-chaired the consultations.
The sides discussed ways to increase India-EU cooperation, including implementing the European code of conduct on arms export to India’s neighbors and co-developing and co-producing defense equipment, including India’s involvement in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
PESCO is an integral part of the EU’s security and defense policy. Its creation in December 2017 has elevated cooperation among EU member states in the field of defense to a whole new level.
The Indian Embassy in Brussels issued a statement, “The two sides noted a number of positive developments in the area of security and defense cooperation in recent years, including the establishment of a regular maritime security dialogue, which met for the second time in February 2021, the first-ever joint naval exercises held in June 2021, and a number of joint workshops on the subject of fostering maritime security”.
