Trump's pressure did not work, EU will not impose additional tariff on India, said- increasing cooperation is our priority

News Topical, Digital Desk : Despite the increasing pressure from the US over the purchase of crude oil from Russia, the European Union (EU) will not take any step to impose additional duty on India. Last week (10-14 September), this issue was raised by the Indian side with the political and security committee of the European Union.

These officials told India that their priority is to implement the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and EU and not to spoil bilateral relations with the new tariff system. By the way, during this meeting of India and EU, the US President Donald Trump administration has appealed to the G-7 members, especially European countries, to impose heavy tariffs on countries (like India and China) importing oil from Russia.

EU will not impose additional duties on India!

However, India is assuming that no such step will be taken by the European Union. Diplomatic sources say that the US has been pressuring European countries for the past two-three months to impose higher taxes on countries importing oil from Russia. So far, no European country has indicated that it is going to do so.

If we talk about India, last week, for the first time, the EU has sent ambassadors of its 27 countries to New Delhi for an Asian country. Not only this, this week the EU is going to release an important vision document on long-term bilateral relations with India, which indicates strengthening of economic and strategic partnership. Apart from this, the talks of India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have reached the final stage, due to which there is hope of stability in relations despite US pressure.

Consensus reached on 60-65 percent of issues

In the round of talks held last Friday, consensus has been reached on 60-65 percent of the total issues covered under the FTA. Both the countries are committed to signing the FTA in the year 2025 itself. Not only this, in the India-EU talks, the EU representatives have also indicated that they have an independent policy regarding India which is not influenced by any country. The EU considers India a strategic partner and cannot completely accept the US pressure.

India is part of the EU's strategy against China in the Indo-Pacific region. Amidst this entire episode, the EU's vision document on relations with India is a positive step. This document, to be released on September 17, will outline the strengthening of India-EU relations for 2025-2030. This vision document will focus on economic stability, cooperation in the supply chain sector and strategic partnership.

India's role is important in Indo-Pacific strategy

It is believed that it will focus on further strengthening India's role in the Indo-Pacific strategy. Apart from this, India-Russia relations will not be considered an obstacle to increasing cooperation on counter-terrorism, cyber security, maritime security and climate change.

Experts said that the impact of the long talks between India and EU on partnership on digital transformation, green energy, semiconductors and AI will also be seen in the vision document. Just as talks have recently started on India-Japan-Australia cooperation for supply chain, cooperation between India and EU will also be established on the same model. Third parties will be included in this.

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