India sees to strengthen its relations with EU, says EAM

Ljubljana [Slovenia] September 2 (ANI): External Affair Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, during the meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, said that India sees to strengthen its relations with the European Union while refuting "the Western-Non-Western binary".

"Europe needs to know that it has friends in Asia, in the Indo-Pacific, that share a lot of principles and values that Europe has. By strengthening India-EU relations, we refute the Western-Non-Western binary," said Jaishankar at the Bled Strategic Forum panel discussion on "Partnership for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific".

Asserting that there exists a lot of issues where India and Europe have meeting points, EAM said, "One of them is where Europe stand vis-a-vis Asia and Indo-Pacific. After 2008, Europe has been much more reticent about articulating its decisions and backing that up beyond its immediate confines."

"Today, when you speak about a liberal order, trust and transparency, these are issues which, at one time may have been more central to our Western discourse, but are today increasingly shared beyond the Western world," EAM S Jaishankar added.

West/non-West binary means when it comes to opening up the present parochial landscape of IR. Global IR sets out to safeguard against a tug of war between Western and non-Western IR.

This is an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council which is being held in Slovenia's capital city.

EAM is on an official visit to Slovenia, Croatia and Denmark from September 2-5, as part of a tour to boost bilateral ties and further strengthen India's cooperation with the Central European Countries.

A Ministry External Affairs statement also informed that this visit will provide an opportunity for reviewing the progress in India's bilateral ties with these three countries, and strengthening multifaceted relationships with the EU.

Speaking at Bled Strategic Forum panel discussion on "Partnership for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific" held in Slovenia, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, Ababu Namwamba said, "Kenya believes in multilateralism, we believe in partnerships. The EU-India partnership is definitely significant. It does present opportunities for further engagements."

He was joined by External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, Foreign Minister of Slovenia Dr Anze Logar, and Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva at the panel discussion. (ANI)