Green Ship Recycling Gains Momentum Under EU–India Strategic Pact
The European Union and India on Tuesday endorsed a far-reaching Joint EU-India Comprehensive Strategic Agenda at the 16th EU-India Summit in New Delhi, outlining an ambitious roadmap to deepen cooperation across key sectors and respond jointly to a rapidly evolving global landscape. The agenda seeks to reinforce the long-standing strategic partnership by broadening and better coordinating engagement to deliver concrete, mutually beneficial and transformative outcomes for both sides and for the wider world.
Building on more than two decades of strategic partnership, the new agenda reflects a shared recognition that closer cooperation is essential amid growing geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions, climate challenges and technological shifts. Officials described the framework as a forward-looking action plan that positions the EU and India as “trusted, predictable and like-minded partners” committed to rules-based international order and sustainable development.
The strategic agenda is structured around several core pillars, including prosperity and sustainability, technology and innovation, security and defence, connectivity, and global issues, supported by cross-cutting enablers to ensure effective implementation. Together, these pillars aim to strengthen economic ties, promote green and digital transitions, enhance people-to-people links and bolster cooperation on regional and global challenges.
On prosperity and sustainability, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to inclusive economic growth, resilient supply chains and climate action. The agenda aligns closely with India’s development priorities and the EU’s Green Deal objectives, emphasising clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and responsible industrial practices. Trade and investment cooperation, including progress on a proposed EU-India free trade agreement, is expected to gain fresh momentum under the renewed partnership.
Technology and innovation form another central pillar, with plans to deepen collaboration in critical and emerging areas such as digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space and clean technologies. By pooling research capabilities and promoting innovation ecosystems, the EU and India aim to remain competitive while ensuring that technological advances are ethical, secure and inclusive.
In the area of security and defence, the agenda underlines enhanced dialogue and cooperation on maritime security, counter-terrorism, cyber security and defence industrial collaboration. With the Indo-Pacific assuming growing strategic importance, both partners reiterated their support for freedom of navigation, respect for international law and stability in the region.
Connectivity and global issues, including development cooperation, multilateral reform and humanitarian assistance, also feature prominently. The agenda highlights the EU-India partnership as a stabilising force that can contribute constructively to addressing global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and sustainable development.
A notable element of the agenda is the emphasis on sustainable ship recycling, an area of particular relevance to India’s maritime and industrial sectors. The EU and India agreed to pursue closer cooperation to support environmentally sound ship recycling activities, especially through the implementation of the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The agenda also recognises the importance of including Indian ship recycling yards that comply with the European Union Regulation on Ship Recycling in the EU’s approved list of ship recycling facilities.
This commitment signals a significant opportunity for India’s ship recycling industry, particularly in Gujarat’s Alang-Sosiya yard cluster, to further upgrade standards, enhance worker safety and expand access to European tonnage. For the EU, it offers a pathway to ensure responsible end-of-life management of vessels while supporting sustainable industrial practices in a key partner country.
Officials on both sides said the comprehensive strategic agenda would be implemented through regular dialogue, monitoring mechanisms and stakeholder engagement. As global uncertainties persist, the renewed EU-India partnership is expected to play an increasingly important role in shaping a more resilient, sustainable and cooperative international order.
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