The European Commission said on Thursday (18 February) that it wants to "explore options" for expanding the EU’s trade and investment with India, notably ahead of the summit scheduled for May in Porto as part of Portugal's presidency of the Council of the EU.
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EDITOR’s TAKE
Munich calls: the annual Munich Security Conference is back with a virtual event later this evening with a high-level line-up of European and US officials, after having been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will be the first chance for new US President Joe Biden, who has been a regular in Munich since 1980, to face European allies, anxious to see in person the new face of Washington, and present his slate of foreign policy ideas.
“We have learned in a shocking way that there is no such thing as a permanent, long-term guarantee that the US will always have our back,” MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said told
Portugal’s foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Tuesday (10 February) that China is no substitute for the United States, emphasising that Beijing is an economic partner while Washington is an ally.
During a hearing in the Portuguese parliament, Santos Silva was asked whether a recent EU-China trade deal could affect transatlantic relations and particularly US relations with Lisbon.
“Portugal has trade partners all over the world and China is one of them. China is no substitute for the United States. Our allies are among the EU member states, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Atlantic Alliance and the Portuguese-speaking countries,” Santos Silva said.
Last Updated:
2nd February, 2021 12:16 IST
UK: 11 New Cases Of South African COVID Variant Detected In People With No Travel History
UK: Without having any links to people who travelled recently, 11 people have tested positive for the South African variant. They will now self isolate.
Without having any links to people who travelled recently, 11 people in the United Kingdom have tested positive for the South African variant. On Monday, February 1, the UK government said that the people are self-isolating and the government has started with the process of contact tracing so that the people who have been in contact with them can also self isolate. The people were detected from eight postal codes, including 3 in London, 2 in south east, 1 in West Midlands and few in the North West.
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EDITOR’s TAKE
While the shift to Asia as the world’s economic centre of gravity has already happened, Europe also seems slow to wake up to the realisation that ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific might need to go beyond trade.
Obviously, we’re not speaking about Europe aspiring to be a traditional hard power player in Asia, especially as tensions are too high in the region for Europeans to be interested in military endeavours beyond the growing Franco-British presence.
While the US is redirecting strategic focus to the region as part of its Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, the EU is a top trade and investment partner for many countries in the region.