India, EU held 11th macroeconomic dialogue, both agree to bilateral cooperation arrangements

The Ministry of Finance informed that the 11th India-European Union macroeconomic dialogue was held virtually on February 19, 2021.

The Secretary, Economic Affairs, Tarun Bajaj led the Indian delegation while the European Union delegation was led by the Director-General, Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission.

The Indian delegation during the macroeconomic dialogue also included the representatives from the Department of Revenues, Department of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of External Affairs.

As per the official release by the Finance Ministry, the relationship between India and European Union has evolved into a multifaceted partnership. EU is also India’s one of the largest trading partners, largest investors, and also an important source of technology, best practices, and innovation.

11th India-EU Macroeconomic Dialogue: Key Highlights

• The dialogue between India and European Union covered all the dimensions including economic, political. Security, environment, research and innovation, trade and investment.

• The dialogue covered sharing of experiences in order to enable both sides on various aspects including G20 Framework Working Group Deliverables, collaboration in the G20 on finance track matters, debt-related issues, G20 Action Plan, and International taxation of the digital economy.

• The medium-term fiscal strategy and fiscal policy response including financial/structural reform priorities were also discussed.

• India, during the dialogue, shared its policy response to the COVID-19 crisis. The country informed about the steps that have been taken to revive the economy from the pact of pandemic including the packages announced by the Indian Government as well as the vaccination-related efforts.

EU’s economic challenges:

The European Union informed about the economic challenges as well as the outlook of their economy because of the adverse impact of the Coronavirus pandemic in the European Union countries, including the European Union recovery plan and macroeconomic policy response.

The meeting ended with the hope and plan that both sides will be able to strengthen their relations by entering into various bilateral cooperation agreements which will be of mutual interest to both India and European Union.