India, EU to Start Negotiations on Delhi's Association With Horizon Europe

India and the European Union on Wednesday agreed to start formal negotiations on Delhi's association with Horizon Europe, the 27-member bloc's key funding programme for research and innovation, and launch a bilateral startup partnership focused on deep tech clean technologies.

During the 3rd EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting, attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada, the two sides also reviewed progress on digital connectivity and strategic technologies; clean and green technologies; and trade, investment and resilient value chains, said a press release.

"We will be starting negotiations for India's association with the Horizon Europe programme. It is also worth noting that joint research calls in areas like waste-to-green hydrogen, combating marine pollution and EV battery recycling are now at a pilot-scale validation and will hopefully go beyond," Jaishankar said.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said the two sides are poised to commence formal negotiations on India's association with Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship EUR 93.5 billion research and innovation funding programme, to conclude these before the end of 2026.

"This is a historic and strategic shift towards a long-term institutional framework of cooperation between both sides, which will allow Indian researchers and innovators to fully participate in the programme as from 2027," it added.

The EU side was represented by European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency Maros Sefcovic and Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva.

"When Europe and India innovate together, we don't just develop new technologies -- we shape the future. By bringing India closer to Horizon Europe and connecting nearly half a million startups, we are building a partnership designed to turn shared ambition into global impact," said Zaharieva.

Underlining the growing ambition of the EU-India strategic partnership, both sides agreed to strengthen work on resilient value chains in agri-food, active pharmaceutical ingredients and clean energy technologies.

The two sides decided to launch an EU-India Startup Partnership focused on deep tech clean technologies and establish the first EU-India Innovation Hub on electric vehicle charging technologies and testing. They also agreed to step up cooperation on semiconductors, high-performance computing, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and 6G.

The meeting took stock of joint research supported by 60 million euros over four years, including projects on waste-to-hydrogen, marine pollution and electric vehicle battery recycling.

The two sides also reaffirmed their support for the multilateral trading system and World Trade Organisation (WTO) reform.

"The EU-India partnership has led to many fruitful exchanges on AI, semiconductors, interoperability of digital trust services and startups," said Virkkunen. "Together with India, we will continue pursuing the common objectives to promote secure, trusted and resilient technology." The EU-India TTC was established in April 2022 by President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address challenges in the areas of trade, trusted technology and security, while deepening their cooperation. The first meeting of the EU-India TTC took place in May 2023, while the second took place in February 2025