{"id":35710,"date":"2026-09-03T08:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T08:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/35710\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T08:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T08:36:12","slug":"from-diamonds-to-defence-india-belgium-target-2x-trade-in-5-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/35710\/","title":{"rendered":"From diamonds to defence: India, Belgium target 2x trade in 5 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

India and Belgium will work to double bilateral trade<\/a> over the next five years as the two countries seek to expand their partnership beyond traditional commerce into defence, clean energy<\/a>, critical minerals<\/a> and semiconductors<\/a>, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Modi made the remarks alongside Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever at a joint press statement at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. De Wever is on a three-day official visit to India from September 2 to 4.
\u201cIndia, Belgium aim to double bilateral trade in next 5 years,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

Also Read: Belgian PM Bart De Wever arrives in India for three-day official visit, to hold talks with PM Modi<\/a><\/p>\n

The two leaders also highlighted new areas of cooperation, including renewable energy<\/a> and semiconductor technology, with Modi saying Belgium\u2019s expertise and India\u2019s scale could complement each other.<\/p>\n

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The two countries already have a significant economic relationship. Bilateral trade reached around $13.01 billion in 2025-26, while Belgium’s cumulative foreign direct investment into India was about $4.2 billion between April 2000 and December 2025, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Diamonds remain an important component of bilateral commerce, with Antwerp serving as one of the world’s major diamond hubs. But the relationship is increasingly expanding into technology, clean energy, defence, maritime cooperation and critical minerals.The visit follows the first India-Belgium Ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue held in Brussels in July 2026, providing a new institutional framework for discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues.From traditional trade to strategic partnershipIn his address, Modi said India-Belgium ties have strengthened significantly over the past decade and expanded into areas such as defence and clean energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last decade, our ties have strengthened significantly,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Belgium, and I am very pleased that our partnership has made remarkable progress over the past decade,\u201d the Prime Minister said. \u201cToday, the scope of our cooperation has expanded beyond traditional sectors to reach strategic areas such as defence and clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read: $10 bln green ammonia project in Andhra Pradesh set to put India on clean energy export map<\/a><\/p>\n

Modi said the two countries are working together on modern defence equipment, including the Zorawar tank.<\/p>\n

India and Belgium have also identified renewable energy and critical minerals as areas for deeper cooperation. A memorandum of understanding signed on renewable energy will give fresh momentum to bilateral sustainability efforts, Modi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn critical minerals, we have decided to increase cooperation in processing and recycling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

India-Belgium Semiconductor pushSemiconductors emerged as another key area of cooperation, with Modi proposing closer links between Belgium\u2019s Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) and India\u2019s semiconductor ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn semiconductors, Belgium’s expertise and India’s scale are complementary to each other,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this direction, we will work together to connect Belgium’s IMEC Institute with India’s semiconductor ecosystem,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Also Read: India-EU FTA key to boosting India-Belgium economic ties, says Piyush Goyal<\/a><\/p>\n

Belgium’s imec is a major global research and innovation centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The partnership could give India greater access to Belgium\u2019s semiconductor research capabilities as New Delhi builds out its domestic chip ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Green ammonia project in Andhra PradeshClean energy is another growing pillar of India-Belgium economic ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, we are developing one of the world’s largest green ammonia projects,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

Belgian engineering company John Cockerill is already working with Indian partner Greenko on an electrolyser manufacturing facility in Kakinada. The companies have planned a facility with annual manufacturing capacity of up to 2 GW.<\/p>\n

Kakinada is emerging as a major green-ammonia production hub, with large-scale projects targeting exports to global markets including Germany and Japan.<\/p>\n

Modi said a clean-energy future and reliable supply chains are shared priorities for the two countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cA clean energy future and reliable supply chain are our shared priorities,\u201d he said. \u201cThe MOU signed today on Renewable Energy will give new momentum to our sustainability cooperation,\u201d Modi added.<\/p>\n

Trade target comes amid global uncertaintyModi’s push to double bilateral trade comes at a time when global trade and supply chains are facing heightened uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the world is passing through a phase of great upheaval,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many parts of the world, situations of conflict persist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFood, fuel or supply chains\u2014uncertainty is affecting every sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the global volatility, Modi said India’s economy had maintained its momentum, pointing to 7.8% growth in the latest quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in this challenging environment, India’s economy has maintained its momentum,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the last quarter, we have recorded a growth of 7.8 percent. Today, India’s growth story is becoming a source of confidence and new opportunities for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two leaders also stressed their shared commitment to diplomacy and the fight against terrorism, amid conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia and Belgium, both believe in the rule of law, dialogue, and diplomacy. Be it Ukraine or West Asia, we support all efforts for the early end of conflicts and for peace. And to eradicate every form of terrorism from its roots is our shared commitment,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

Belgium seeks deeper economic engagementBelgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Belgium may be smaller than India but remains highly integrated with global trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a little smaller, but we are one of the world’s most open economies to trade,\u201d De Wever said.<\/p>\n

He also stressed that the partnership should extend beyond government-to-government cooperation to the two countries’ defence industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe not only want to strengthen ties between our armed forces, but also between our defence industries,\u201d De Wever said.<\/p>\n

The Belgian prime minister also called for the agreements signed between the two countries to translate into tangible business opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have to turn these agreements into real opportunities,\u201d De Wever said.<\/p>\n

De Wever\u2019s India visit builds on defence, trade pushDe Wever is on a three-day visit to India, his first to the country as Belgian prime minister and the first by a Belgian prime minister in two decades. He is accompanied by Belgium’s Defence and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken, along with senior officials and business leaders, including representatives from the Belgian defence industry.<\/p>\n

His visit follows a Belgian Economic Mission to India led by Princess Astrid in March 2025, which brought together 338 participants from companies, chambers of commerce, academia and public institutions and resulted in 38 memoranda of understanding.<\/p>\n

Defence has emerged as an important new area of engagement. Earlier on Thursday, De Wever’s Defence Minister Theo Francken held talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, with the discussions focused on expanding bilateral defence manufacturing and industrial cooperation. Multiple agreements were also signed during the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India and Belgium will work to double bilateral trade over the next five years as the two countries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,9727,2541,3733,7812,19182,19184,19183,415,4627],"class_list":["post-35710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-bilateral-trade","tag-clean-energy","tag-critical-minerals","tag-defence-cooperation","tag-india-belgium-trade","tag-modi-india-fta","tag-modi-trade-deals","tag-renewable-energy","tag-semiconductors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/117206200405604692","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}