China, EU lifting all restrictions on mutual exchange, says China's foreign ministry
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Arab News
18 minutes ago
- Arab News
Modi's UK visit shows Europe is warming to India
It was not many years ago that Narendra Modi's reputation in Europe, and much of the rest of the world, was dogged by controversy surrounding his political past. However, the Indian prime minister is now widely feted internationally. This factor was highlighted, most recently, during Modi's state visit to the UK. Modi was accorded all the pomp that the UK state could muster, including a meeting with King Charles. The political icing on the cake was the signing with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the newly agreed India-UK trade deal that will boost bilateral trade on goods and services which was estimated at around £41 billion ($55 billion) in the 12 months through to September 2024, according to the UK government. The huge lure of India for the EU and much of the rest of the West is not just economic, tantalizing as the prospect is of a market projected, according to Morgan Stanley, as being on a pathway to surpass Japan and Germany to become the world's third-largest economy in coming years. This includes a middle-class consumer market expected to reach about 95 million by 2035, a number larger than the current population of every EU nation, including Germany. In addition, India is widely perceived in the West as a relatively friendly, long-term geopolitical ally. During the Cold War, India was aligned with the Soviet Union, and had a protectionist economy moving away from the colonial era. Yet, European and wider Western leaders regularly highlight that today there is a shared commitment to a rules-based global order, effective multilateralism, and sustainable development. There are also converging interests around shared defense mechanisms, including for maritime security in the Indian Ocean, where around 40 percent of bilateral trade passes. In the US, President Donald Trump would welcome a tariff and wider trade deal with Modi. However, it may be Europe that has been pushing hardest of any region for agreements with New Delhi. In March 2024, a trade agreement was signed by the four-member European Free Trade Association — Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. This will trigger EFTA investment in India of about €95 billion ($111 billion) in a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, machinery, and manufacturing. The deal arrived after almost 16 years of negotiations and will see India lifting key import tariffs on industrial goods from the four countries. The political icing on the cake was the signing with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the newly agreed India-UK trade deal. Andrew Hammond Next in line is the UK, which under several recent prime ministers, including Rishi Sunak and Starmer, has pushed hard for the deal that has now materialized. Of course, London and New Delhi have long had a unique relationship dating back to the British Empire and today's Commonwealth. What the new deal seeks to deliver is entrenching this in the context of a modern trade deal which can boost key UK sectors, including defense manufacturing, international investment — via the City of London — and technology, including telecoms. With the EFTA nations and the UK getting a deal done, the EU is also doubling down to secure an agreement with India. The seriousness with which Brussels takes India's economic opportunity was shown by the visit earlier this year of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the rest of the College of 27 Commissioners to India for the talks. This remarkably rare display of European political commitment to 'advance trade, economic security, and resilient supply chains, along with a common tech agenda and reinforced security and defense cooperation' helped kick-start resumption of India-EU negotiations on a proposed trade agreement. The massive EU market is India's largest single trading partner, with trade in goods valued at €124 billion in 2023, an increase of almost 90 percent in the past 10 years. About 6,000 European companies are located in India, providing 1.7 million jobs. One of the goals of the proposed new India-EU trade deal goal is enhancing collaboration on economic opportunities including digital transition and green technologies, including digital public infrastructure, and resilience of key value chains. What is remarkable in the current big European push toward trade deal-making with India is how much previous EU and UK concerns about human rights have been de-emphasized. Economics has come to dominate bilateral relations in a way that has been condemned by some nongovernmental organizations. To be sure, the Indian prime minister is now widely acclaimed not just in Europe, but in much of the wider world, too. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for instance, even likened him to rock musician Bruce Springsteen at a Sydney event in 2023. This is much removed from the time when Modi's reputation was dogged by controversies surrounding his political past, especially in the period before he became prime minister. This includes treatment of religious minority groups by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. More recently, Modi has also been walking a diplomatic tightrope between India's historical ally Russia and the West over the Ukraine war. He has, so far, declined to condemn the 2022 invasion by Moscow, while India snaps up discounted Russian oil that was previously consumed by European nations. Moreover, Russia continues to be one of India's largest arms suppliers. However, such controversies are likely to continue to be de-emphasized while the EU remains focused on its trade agreement with India. Following EFTA and the UK, Brussels now perceives a political window of opportunity for a deal to deliver deeper economic and geopolitical collaboration.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
French authorities investigate if Jewish passengers were removed from flight due to religion
PARIS: French authorities are trying to establish whether a group of young French citizens were removed from a plane bound for Paris from Spain this week because they are Jewish. The airline, Vueling, has denied the claims. Several dozen French passengers on Wednesday were kicked off a flight leaving the Spanish city of Valencia for Paris, for what Spanish police and the airline described as unruly behavior. France's ministry for Europe and foreign affairs said in a statement on Saturday that the minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted the CEO of Vueling, Carolina Martinoli, to express his deep concern 'about the removal of a group of young French Jews from one of the company's flights.' Barrot also requested more information to 'determine whether these individuals had been discriminated against on the basis of their religion.' A similar request has been made to the Spanish ambassador to France. 'Ms. Martinoli assured Mr. Barrot that a thorough internal investigation was underway and that its findings would be shared with the French and Spanish authorities,' the ministry said. Vueling previously denied reports that the incident, which involved the removal of 44 minors and eight adults from flight V8166, was related to the passengers' religion. Some Israeli news outlets reported that the students were Jewish and that their removal was religiously motivated, a claim that was repeated by an Israeli minister online. Spain's Civil Guard said the minors and adults were French nationals. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved were not aware of the group's religious affiliation. A Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the captain of the plane ordered the removal of the minors from the plane at Valencia's Manizes Airport after they repeatedly ignored the crew's instructions. On Thursday, the Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain expressed concern about the incident. The group said that Vueling needed to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
China's Premier Li Proposes Global AI Cooperation Organization
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday proposed establishing an organization to foster global cooperation on artificial intelligence, calling on countries to coordinate on the development and security of the fast-evolving technology. Speaking at the opening of the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Li called AI a new engine for growth but said governance is fragmented and emphasizing the need for more coordination between countries to form a globally recognized framework for AI. The three-day event brings together industry leaders and policymakers at a time of escalating technological competition between China and the United States - the world's two largest economies - with AI emerging as a key battleground. "Overall global AI governance is still fragmented. Countries have great differences particularly in terms of areas such as regulatory concepts, institutional rules," Li said. "We should strengthen coordination to form a global AI governance framework that has broad consensus as soon as possible." Washington has imposed export restrictions on advanced technology to China, including the most high-end AI chips made by companies such as Nvidia and chipmaking equipment, citing concerns that the technology could enhance China's military capabilities. Despite these restrictions, China has continued making AI breakthroughs that have drawn close scrutiny from US officials. Li did not name the United States in his speech but he warned that AI could become an "exclusive game" for a few countries and companies, adding that challenges included an insufficient supply of AI chips and restrictions on talent exchange. GOVERNANCE PLAN China wants to share its development experience and products with other countries, especially those in the Global South, Li said. Also on Saturday, China released an action plan for global AI governance, in which it invited governments, international organizations, enterprises and research institutions to work together and promote international exchanges including through a cross-border open-source community. The plan proposes accelerating digital infrastructure such as clean power, new-generation networks and data centers, according to a statement from China's foreign ministry. The AI conference is an annual government-sponsored event in Shanghai that typically attracts major industry players, government officials, researchers and investors. Saturday's speakers included Anne Bouverot, the French president's special envoy for AI, computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as "the Godfather of AI", and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has in past years regularly appeared at the opening ceremony in person or by video, did not speak this year. Besides forums, the conference features exhibitions where companies demonstrate their latest innovations. This year, more than 800 companies are participating, showcasing more than 3,000 high-tech products, 40 large language models, 50 AI-powered devices and 60 intelligent robots, according to organizers. The exhibition features predominantly Chinese companies, including tech giants Huawei and Alibaba and startups such as humanoid robot maker Unitree. Western participants include Tesla, Alphabet and Amazon.
