Beyond the FTA: AI emerging as new pillar of India-Europe relations

New Delhi, Feb 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish President Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday hailed artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative force and underlined the need for closer India-Spain cooperation to leverage its potential for inclusive development.

In his talks with Modi, the Spanish president said the AI Impact Summit could emerge as turning point to shape a global framework for artificial intelligence as the two leaders held talks on boosting bilateral cooperation in defence, trade, and critical energy sectors.

The prime minister held bilateral talks with Sanchez and several other leaders including his counterparts from Finland, Croatia, Bhutan and Kazakhstan as well as presidents of Estonia and Serbia on the margins of the AI Impact Summit here.

Besides artificial intelligence, the other dominant focus of Modi's bilateral talks with leaders from Europe was the free trade agreement between India and the 27-nation European Union and how it will act as a strong catalyst to shore up bilateral trade and investment ties.

"The historic FTA with the EU will have a very positive impact on the economic partnership with Spain and provide new opportunities to the people of our nations," Modi said after talks with Sanchez.

An Indian readout said President Sanchez highlighted the importance of the AI Impact Summit and expressed confidence that its outcomes would contribute meaningfully to shaping global AI governance.

"The two leaders recognised artificial intelligence as a transformative force and underlined the need for closer India-Spain cooperation to leverage its potential for inclusive development and societal benefit," it said.

The AI summit saw participation of top leaders from 11 European countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain, Croatia, Greece, Serbia, Slovakia, Estonia, Finland and Switzerland.

In total, 26 European countries participated in the AI Impact Summit and it is the largest European delegations to join any technology-focused event in India, people familiar with the matter said.

Europe remains a hub of cutting-edge AI innovation, digital governance, and AI frameworks. The European Union plays prominent role in setting global norms including for AI. The EU is the first bloc globally to enact comprehensive AI legislation.

In their official talks, the European leaders have conveyed their unanimous support to the early implementation of the India-EU FTA and assured their support for its early ratification in the European Council and European Parliament, said the people cited above.

The leaders expressed their keenness to enhance trading ties with India taking advantage of the FTA, they added.

The Modi-Sanchez talks saw both sides vowing to boost cooperation in trade, defence, energy and critical technology sectors even as the two leaders expressed happiness at the progress in the Tata-Airbus collaboration to produce C-295 military transport aircraft at a final assembly line in Gujarat's Vadodara.

The two leaders hailed the conclusion of India-EU FTA negotiations as a major milestone which would help in unlocking immense trade and investment potential between India and Spain as well as with Europe, the Indian readout said.

It said Modi and Sanchez reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and emphasised the need for strengthened international cooperation to combat terrorism.

"The historic FTA with the EU will have a very positive impact on the economic partnership with Spain and provide new opportunities to the people of our nations," Modi said on the proposed trade deal that was finalised last month.

Modi and Sanchez also stressed on the importance of defence industrial collaboration based on co-development and co-production as the way forward.

The two leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Spain's decision to join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, the readout said.

In their talks, Modi and Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo welcomed the India-EU free trade agreement, holding that it will serve as a catalyst for shared progress and prosperity.

"The leaders underscored the pivotal role of digitalisation and sustainability in driving future economic growth and development. In this context, they recognized and welcomed the increasing presence of their leading technology companies in each other's economies through expanded operations and partnerships," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The Finnish prime minister lauded India's vision for just and inclusive artificial intelligence.

Modi and Orpo called for doubling bilateral trade and greater technology collaboration, including in co-development of quantum and 6G, renewables, circular economy, and defence, the MEA said.

The prime minister's talks with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic saw the two leaders discussing ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a wide spectrum of areas including trade and investment, science and technology, connectivity, cultural exchanges and people-to-people ties.

"Recalling the conclusion of the historic India-EU FTA, they urged for an early implementation of the agreement to boost bilateral trade. Views were also exchanged on regional and global issues of mutual interest," the MEA said.

It said both sides emphasised on harnessing artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to prepare for a brighter future for the people of the two countries.

Modi also held a separate bilateral meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

"The two leaders discussed avenues to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, AI, fin-tech, education, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges," the MEA said.

In his talks with Modi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay thanked his Indian counterpart for New Delhi's support to Bhutan's 13th Five Year Plan as well as to the Gelephu Mindfulness city project.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advance cooperation in priority areas of energy, connectivity and development partnership, the MEA said in a statement.

In keeping with the high emphasis placed on harnessing new technologies for growth and prosperity by both India and Bhutan, the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in AI and digital technology space through mutual sharing of experience and expertise as well as joint development of AI solutions, it said.

Modi also met Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

The two leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation in a range of fields, including political, trade, defence and security, connectivity, energy, emerging technologies, and people-to-people ties, the MEA said. PTI MPB KVK KVK