New Delhi, March 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with King Philippe of Belgium, discussing shared close ties between the two countries which remain underpinned by strong mutual interests in trade and investment.
“It was a pleasure to speak with HM King Philippe of Belgium. Appreciated the recent Belgian Economic Mission to India led by HRH Princess Astrid. We discussed deepening our strong bilateral ties, boosting trade and investment, and advancing collaboration in innovation and sustainability,” PM Modi posted on X after the phone call.
In November 2017, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium paid a State Visit to India – their first to India following King’s ascension to the throne in 2013 – at the invitation of the President of India. Belgium was also among the first European countries to establish a diplomatic mission in India after Independence and the visit had further strengthened the historical strong ties between the two countries.
Earlier this month, Princess Astrid of Belgium led a high-powered economic delegation – second such Economic Mission to India – that consisted of over 325 Belgian delegates comprising of key CEOs, senior leadership from Belgian businesses, academic representatives as well as high-ranking officials of the country.
Princess Astrid had also called on Prime Minister Modi as both countries agreed to work closely to discover new pathways for cooperation across emerging and high-impact sectors, strengthening economic resilience, foster innovation-led growth, and deepen bilateral cooperation to benefit the people of the two countries.
The Princess was accompanied by Maxime Prevot, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation; Theo Francken, Minister of Defence, in charge of Foreign Trade; and Matthias Diependale, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation and Industry, Foreign affairs, Digitisation and Facility Management.
External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar also met with Princess Astrid and her delegation besides also separately meeting the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium. “They held productive discussions in a variety of areas including regular political and official engagement, trade and investment, digital and other technologies, semiconductors, defence, innovation and clean energy, infrastructure, chemicals, agriculture and food processing, and easier mobility of skilled professionals,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Princess also held meetings with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh; Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal; and, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnav. “As part of the Economic Mission, over 35 business and academic collaboration agreements were signed in diverse areas like green technology, healthcare, defence, food processing, ports and education.
“The bilateral trade between the two amounted to over USD 15 billion in 2023-24, making Belgium fifth largest trading partner of India in EU. There are over 175 Belgian companies present in India with cumulative investments from Belgium amounting to USD 4 billion. The Economic Mission led by Princess Astrid would boost two-way investment and diversification of trade,” the MEA stated.
IANS