India and Belgium have agreed to deepen cooperation in areas including trade and investment, green energy transition, innovation and technology, connectivity, defence, security, regional and global issues, as well as people-to-people exchanges.The first meeting of the India-Belgium Strategic Dialogue was held in Brussels yesterday, marking a significant step towards strengthening bilateral relations through a more structured and comprehensive partnership. The inaugural session of the Strategic Dialogue was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar and Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation, Maxime Prévot.Dr Jaishankar said Belgium occupies a special place in India’s engagement with Europe. He said that as the bilateral partnership grows in depth and the India-EU relationship acquires greater strategic importance, the Strategic Dialogue will help build on complementarities and deliver tangible outcomes for both countries.Mr Prévot said the Belgian Economic Mission of March last year demonstrated the strength and dynamism of the economic ties between the two countries. He said trade, investment and innovation continue to bring India and Belgium closer together and provide a strong foundation for future cooperation.The Strategic Dialogue will be supported by regular high-level engagements between the two governments to ensure sustained political momentum. Both sides noted that the upcoming high-level visits later this year will provide an important opportunity to advance key initiatives and translate shared ambitions into tangible outcomes for the people of both countries.The launch of the Strategic Dialogue was complemented by the India-EU Business Forum, held the same day at the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB), with the participation of Indian and Belgian businesses, along with businesses from other European countries.The Forum was attended by Dr S. Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada. The Belgian side was represented by Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, Matthias Diependaele, and Minister-President of Wallonia, Adrien Dolimont.The Forum brought together public and private stakeholders from India, Belgium and the European Union to discuss ways of translating the growing political momentum into concrete economic and trade opportunities, particularly in view of the conclusion of negotiations on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement.
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