India and the European Union are advancing their economic partnership into strategic technology sectors, emphasizing critical minerals, fintech, and AI to secure future growth and supply chain resilience, according to reports.
India and the European Union are pushing to widen their economic relationship beyond trade talks and into the technologies they see as central to future growth, with critical minerals, fintech and artificial intelligence emerging as key areas of discussion, according to the Economic Times.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met European economy and financial affairs commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers’ and central bank governors’ meeting in Asheville, where the two sides also reviewed the India-EU free trade agreement and investment protection talks. The Indian finance ministry said both sides agreed to keep the negotiations moving and to strengthen the wider economic and financial partnership through existing channels such as the macroeconomic dialogue and the Trade and Technology Council.
The talks also reflected a broader strategic concern shared by India and the EU: the need for more resilient and diversified supply chains. Research from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water has highlighted the risks in global critical mineral supply chains for clean technologies, particularly for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, graphite and rare earths. That backdrop helps explain why New Delhi and Brussels are said to be looking at cooperation not only in sourcing raw materials, but also in processing, value addition and the technologies needed to reduce dependence on narrow supply routes.
According to the finance ministry, the two sides also discussed closer engagement in fintech, artificial intelligence and generative AI, including links between Indian and European start-ups. That fits with the broader agenda of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council, which has already been used as a platform for work on strategic technologies, green energy, trade and resilient value chains. The EU has previously said its G20 digital agenda with India has focused on digital public infrastructure, interoperability, digital skills and inclusive growth, underlining how the partnership is increasingly shaped by technology policy as much as by tariffs and market access.
Sitharaman’s meeting with Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov also covered bilateral cooperation, regional and global economic developments, and multilateral institutions including the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the ministry said. She also met counterparts from Poland, Qatar and South Korea, along with senior officials from the IMF and World Bank, as India continued a round of diplomatic and financial engagement at the G20 gathering.
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