India, EU vow to jointly fight 'foreign terrorists'

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI

India and European Union on Friday vowed to jointly fight threat posed by “foreign terrorist fighters”.

The declaration was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker in capital New Delhi.

Tusk and Juncker are on a three-day visit to attend the India-EU Summit.

Modi said: “We have agreed to strengthen our security cooperation and work together against terrorism. We will not only further strengthen our bilateral cooperation on this issue, but will also increase our cooperation and coordination in multilateral forum.”

In a statement, Tusk said "We adopted a joint declaration on counter-terrorism to deal effectively with the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, terror financing and arms supply.

“We have also agreed to cooperate in security in the Indian Ocean region and beyond."

He also praised India for responding to the Rohingya refugee crisis.

The two sides also signed three pacts, including one on an international solar alliance.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed a new partnership with the International Solar Alliance to mobilize finance to develop and deploy affordable solar energy in solar-rich countries.

The EIB confirmed plans to provide 800 million euros ($938 million) for renewable energy investment across India.

Tusk also announced the EIB will provide 500 million euros ($586 million) to support the construction of a metro line in Bangalore city.

According to Ministry of External Affairs, European Union is India’s largest regional trading partner with trade worth $88 billion in 2016.

India has received foreign direct investment of around $83 billion between 2000 and 2017 from Europe, which is 24 percent of total Foreign Direct Investment in the country during that period.