India is the world's fastest-growing large economy, whose main trading partner is the European Union.
As long-standing partners, India and the European Union are committed to dynamic dialogue in all areas of mutual interest as major actors in their own regions and as global players on the world stage. Both are working towards enhancing the EU-India Strategic Partnership, established in 2004 and based on the shared values and principles of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the promotion of peace and stability.
A strategic partnership agreement was signed between the EU and India’s Prime Minister during the 13th summit that was held in Brussels in 2016, and both leaders endorsed the EU-India Agenda for Action 2020 - a roadmap with practical actions for the next five years covering political, security, human rights, global issues (climate change, Sustainable Development Agenda-2030), sector policy cooperation (e.g. energy, environment, ICT, Research and Innovation) and people-to-people contacts. India's Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha and European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip confirmed this intent to collaborate on digital communications and emerging technologies, digital economy and society, noting the importance of technical cooperation between the Indian and European Telecom Standardization Development Organizations - TSDSI and ETSI.
Building on existing collaborative projects between the EU and India SESEI and India-EU ICT Standardisation, InDiCo will increase the collaboration on 5G, IoT and Blockchain Technologies as including their security aspects.
On 5G, InDiCo will help ensure that Indian requirements are channelled into 3GPP, with a view to further enhancing the global relevance of the 5G standards and limiting discrepancies across the world. InDiCo will also support efforts to avoid unnecessary re-certification of telecom equipment for European manufacturers in the context of India's Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE). This will build on the EU's interest in exploring the possibility of India recognizing EU certifications.
