'India, EU to discuss preventing banned goods from going to Russia'

Kimmo Lähdevirta, Finland's ambassador to New Delhi, said Indian cos should not circumvent sanctions on providing Russia with items such as electronics that have commercial and military applications

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen

   

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is likely to discuss preventing restricted technologies from places such as India reaching Russia in violation of sanctions when she visits the South Asian nation from Thursday, a top envoy said.

 

Kimmo Lähdevirta, Finland’s ambassador to New Delhi, said Indian companies should not circumvent sanctions on providing Russia with items such as electronics that have commercial and military applications. It’s part of being a “responsible nation” to prevent Moscow from getting these goods that can be used in its war on Ukraine, he said in an interview.  

 

Von der Leyen and other EU officials will also discuss greater market access and India’s high tariffs on items such as cars and wine as a part of ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement, an EU official told reporters earlier this week. The trip runs through Friday. 

 

“The high tariffs in India certainly are a worry for the EU,” Lähdevirta said, adding he sees positive momentum on enhancing trade. He said a trade deal, however, is unlikely without substantial reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers. Negotiations for a trade agreement restarted in 2022 after being suspended for nine years.

 

India has emerged as the second-biggest supplier of dual-use items to Russia, frustrating efforts to prevent the material from making its way to President Vladimir Putin’s war machine, Bloomberg News reported in October. India is exceeded only by China.

 

Sanctions envoys from the EU and India met in October to explore ways to stop dual-use material from reaching Russia.

 

Russia is a crucial trade partner for India, serving as one of its biggest sources of weapons and crude oil. New Delhi hasn’t condemned Russia for invading Ukraine, while it has advocated dialogue and diplomacy to end the war. 

 

India and the EU are working together to address sanctions violations, a senior official at the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters in a background briefing in New Delhi on Thursday. India’s trade ministry is verifying information provided by the EU.

 

Indian officials have said the country has implemented United Nations sanctions and resolutions. The government was informing companies about export control provisions, and has not detected violations, they said.

 

Prospects for any deal between the EU and India are clouded by threats from US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on friends and foes alike as part of his “America first” agenda. 

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first global leaders to meet Trump after he returned to the White House. But Modi headed home from the February summit with the prospect of looming duties on Indian exports and demands that his country buy more US goods — from American energy to the most expensive US weapons systems — showing that the two leaders’ bonhomie from Trump’s first term will only go so far.  

 

India and EU should work more closely as “geopolitics has certainly changed and is different from a decade ago,” the envoy said in response to a question of Trump’s policies including threat of tariffs.