India / EU stands with India, assures PM Modi for help: European Commission President

Porto: After the India-EU leaders' meeting on Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed solidarity with India and said that European Union (EU) stands with the country in the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was for us a very historical moment to make sure that EU stands firmly at the side of India in this challenging time and assure PM Modi of our solidarity and support with all that's needed at moment, from oxygen generators to medicines and ventilators," she said at a press briefing in the presence of European Council President Charles Michel and Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

"Seventeen EU members states have supported worth over 100 million euros of supply that has been brought to India and is being brought in the next days through the EU Civil Protection mechanism and further assistance will follow," she added.

She also said that about 25 per cent of European population has received first shot of the vaccine, "Of course, delivering vaccine doses is good but vaccination is even better. Close to 160 million Europeans now have already received the first shot of the vaccine, that's over 25 per cent of the EU population."

She added that around 70 per cent of European population will get vaccinated by July 2021.

"We have now delivered over 200 million doses (of vaccine) to the European people. So, we are on track to achieve our projective of enough doses being delivered in July to vaccinate 70 per cent of the European adult population," Ursula von der Leyen said.

She said the India, EU summit "was a remarkable summit" because it widened the scope and the view on the untapped potential in the relationship of the European Union and India.

During the meeting, the leaders expressed their desire to further strengthen the India-EU Strategic Partnership based on a shared commitment to democracy, fundamental freedoms, rule of law and multilateralism. They exchanged views on three key thematic areas - foreign policy and security; COVID-19, climate and environment; and trade, connectivity and technology.

They discussed forging closer cooperation on combating the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery, tackling climate change, and reforming multilateral institutions.

The previous EU-India summit was held on July 15, 2020, via video conference. EU and India leaders had adopted a five-year roadmap for the EU-India Strategic Partnership and a joint declaration on resource efficiency and circular economy.