At India-EU Macroeconomic Dialogue, both look forward to bilateral cooperation arrangements

Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Economic Affairs, led the Indian delegation while the delegation from European Union was led by Maarten Verwey, Director General, Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN), European Commission.

The Indian delegation included representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Revenue and Ministry of External Affairs.

According to a release by the Ministry of Finance, the India-EU relationship has evolved into a multifaceted partnership.

"Today, it covers all dimensions-political, economic, security, trade and investment, environment, research and innovation. The EU is one of our largest trading partners, one of the largest investors in India and an important source for technology, innovation and best practices," it said.

The ministry informed the dialogue, inter-alia, covered sharing of their experiences to enable both sides on various aspects including collaboration in the G20 on finance track matters, including through G20 Framework Working Group deliverables, G20 Action plan, debt-related issues, and international taxation of the digital economy.

"Fiscal policy response and medium-term fiscal strategy including financial/structural reforms priorities were also discussed. India shared its policy response to Covid crisis and steps taken to revive the economy from Covid impact including well-calibrated stimulus packages announced by Government of India as also the vaccination related efforts," read the release.

The EU informed about the economic challenges and outlook of their economy due to the adverse impact of the Covid pandemic in EU countries, including macroeconomic policy response and EU recovery plan, the ministry said.

The dialogue concluded with the hope that both sides would be able to build stronger and deeper relations by entering into various bilateral cooperation arrangements which are of mutual interest to both sides.