Building on their earlier this year-launched Trade and Technology Council, India and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on cooperation on Monday in areas like climate modelling and quantum technologies.
In a virtual ceremony, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content, and Technology (DG CONNECT) and India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) signed the "Intent of Cooperation on High-Performance Computing (HPC), Weather Extremes and Climate Modelling, and Quantum Technologies."
To operationalize political decisions, coordinate technical work, and report to the political level in order to ensure implementation and follow-up in areas that are crucial for the long-term development of the economies of Europe and India, the Trade and Technology Council will provide the political direction and framework that are required.
Even as both the parties commemorate the 60th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations, the EU and India's shared values and interests provide a solid foundation for advancing deeper and more mutually beneficial strategic cooperation. The European Union and India have a long history of close cooperation, and they are committed to stepping up their cooperation to address geopolitical issues and current challenges.
The European Union will establish a second Trade and Technology Council after the first one it established with the US. This will be the first Trade and Technology Council that India will establish with any of its partners. A crucial step toward a strengthened strategic partnership for the benefit of all people in the EU and India is the creation of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council.
According to a statement, the agreement reached on Monday aims to make it easier for Indian and European supercomputer users to work together on high-performance computing applications in fields like biomolecular drugs, COVID-19 therapeutics, mitigating climate change, forecasting natural disasters, and quantum computing.
Alkesh Kumar Sharma, secretary of MeitY, and Roberto Viola, director general of the Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content, and Technology, signed the contract.
Sharma claimed that high-performance computing is addressing some of the greatest challenges facing the world and that the demand for such systems is rising quickly across many industries. As part of their partnership, India and the EU will pool their respective expertise to optimise high-performance computing for the creation of cutting-edge technological solutions across a variety of industries.
According to Viola, combining India's and the EU's experience and knowledge, as well as building on a history of mutual respect and trust, can "help one another overcome the greatest challenges of our age, covid-19 and climate change."
The two parties will also be able to jointly explore the limits of quantum technologies thanks to the agreement, he added.
The India-EU TTC is a tactical tool that gives New Delhi access to cutting-edge technologies and enables both sides to establish standards in important fields like artificial intelligence and 5G.
This is the first trade and technology council of its kind that India has established with any of its allies. After the first one established with the US, it is only the second such organisation for the EU.
India accepted the EU's proposal to create the council because it would enable the two sides to collaborate on issues like 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, climate modelling, and health related technology.