EU President Ursula von der Leyen meets Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi; reviews India-EU ties

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen meets President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday discussed a wide range of regional and global issues while also agreeing to establish an EU-India Trade and Technology Council.

"We reviewed the full range of India-EU ties including economic and cultural linkages," Modi said.

After the meeting, Von Der Leyen said that strengthening the EU and India partnership is a key priority for this decade. "We will step up cooperation in trade, technology and security," she said.

It is the 60th anniversary of relations between the EU and India. "Today, our relationship is more important than ever. We have so much in common. We are vibrant democracies, we both support wholeheartedly the rules-based international order and we have both large economies, and we are both facing a challenging global landscape," she said.

Von Der Leyen stressed that for the European Union, the partnership with India is one of the most important relationships for the coming decade and strengthening this partnership is a priority.

She arrived in India for a two-day official visit on Sunday to strengthen the India-EU strategic partnership. This was her first visit to India as the President of the European Commission.

(With inputs from IANS)