Brussels [Belgium], January 15 : European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit India to represent the EU at the 16th EU-India Summit, scheduled for January 27.
The two presidents will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi for a summit to consolidate the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen cooperation in key policy areas. Discussions will focus primarily on trade, security and defense, clean transition, and people-to-people cooperation, a EU statement said.
As guests of honour, Presidents Costa and von der Leyen will participate in India's 77th Republic Day Parade celebrations on January 26.
This will mark the first time the leaders of the European Union have attended Republic Day Parade celebrations as guests of honour, signalling the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the EU and India, the statement noted.
The visit of two leaders comes amid negotiations between India and the European Union for a Free Trade Agreement.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said Thursday that as many as 20 out of 24 chapters under the ambitious India-EU FTA have been finalised, with a few issues remaining under ongoing negotiations.
The commerce secretary said both parties are "virtually engaged on a day-to-day basis", and are trying to see if we can meet the timeline before the leaders can meet, he said.
."We have closed 20 out of 24 chapters completely, there are few issues which are still ongoing negotiations, which we are virtually engaged on a day to day basis, and we are trying to see if we can meet the timeline before our leaders can meet," he said.
Agrawal said that both the parties are trying to see that "we can meet that (January Deadline) because that's a good occasion when our leaders are meeting, but we can only make efforts."
"As I told you, coming near is not good enough," he said, however, adding a caveat.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal concluded two-day visit to Brussels earlier this month, marking a step forward in the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.