Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever arrived in New Delhi on September 2 for a three-day official visit, the first trip to India by a sitting Belgian premier in twenty years. He held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and travelled on to Mumbai to discuss diamond trade, ports and logistics cooperation.
The two governments unveiled ten agreements covering trade, investment, defence, renewable energy, security and people-to-people exchange. On defence, India and Belgium signed a Letter of Intent on Defence Cooperation, alongside a separate memorandum of understanding between the Belgian Security and Defence Industry Association and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers.
Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at roughly $13 billion a year; both sides set a target of doubling that figure over the next five years. Further memoranda were exchanged on renewable energy, combating crime, and establishing a diplomatic training partnership.
De Wever said he expects to host Modi in Brussels in December, when the two sides plan to formally sign the long-negotiated EU-India Free Trade Agreement.