By 2010, it is estimated that India will have the highest number of English speakers in the world. The country has had a sustained economic growth rate of over six percent. In 2004, India became a strategic partner of the EU, joining the club alongside the US, Russia, China and Japan. Last year an ambitious action plan was set in motion to bring forward co-operation between India and the EU on a range of issues including security, human rights, migration, culture, trade and investment and to forge a closer and more productive global partnership.
This video report examines some of the reasons why EU and India have become global partners. It shows the morning journey of Guru Murthy, one of 150,000 IT professionals who work in Bangalore, the Indian equivalent of Silicone Valley. A well educated workforce with considerable spending power, young professionals like Guru make India an attractive prospect for European business investment.
The pharmaceutical industry too has contributed to India’s growth and like IT has been an important focus of the EU — India partnership. Amar Lulla, Managing Director of CIPLA explains the strengths of the Indian industry, and the developments which have been made in recent years ‘We are way up on the learning curve, we are now able to participate on a different footing’
The partnership between the EU and India has been built on many cornerstones – the two hold strong beliefs in democracy and human rights and share mutual trade interests — the EU is India’s largest trading partner and the main source of foreign investment into India. As we approach the next EU-India summit, it is clear that close co-operation will see the two develop as ‘global partners in the global village’.