India and Belgium have laid out an expansive agenda for bilateral cooperation, spanning defence, counterterrorism, clean energy, technology, and people-to-people exchanges, according to a joint statement issued following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
Counterterrorism and Defence
De Wever reaffirmed Belgium’s solidarity with India against terrorism, again condemning the April 2025 attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir. Both leaders called for a coordinated international response to terrorist networks and their financing — including through the UN and FATF — and agreed to explore setting up a joint Belgium-India Counter-Terrorism Working Group.
On the defence side, the two governments signed a Letter of Intent formalising staff talks, training exchanges, research cooperation, and defence-industrial partnerships, building on an understanding reached between the two countries’ defence ministers in March 2025. Concrete steps flagged included a planned visit by the Belgian frigate Leopold I to India in early November 2026, a 2027 study trip by the Belgian Defence College to India, and an October 2026 tour by India’s College of Defence Management to Belgium. Both sides also welcomed new defence attaché appointments in each other’s capitals and multiple fresh agreements between their defence industries.
Separately, the two countries’ investigative agencies — India’s CBI and Belgium’s Federal Police — signed an MoU aimed at tightening cooperation on transnational organised crime, cybercrime, fugitive tracing, and broader law-enforcement information-sharing.
Green Energy and Emerging Technology
The leaders renewed an MoU on renewable energy cooperation, expanding on a 2015 framework to cover green hydrogen, solar power, offshore wind, energy storage, bio-energy and pumped hydro storage. They pointed to growing green hydrogen collaboration already underway through industry partnerships and knowledge-sharing programmes based in Brussels.
Both sides reaffirmed commitment to the Paris Agreement and voiced support for a productive COP31, while flagging the need for accessible climate finance and stronger cooperation on climate adaptation, ocean governance, and disaster resilience.
On technology, the two countries encouraged closer links between India’s semiconductor ecosystem and Belgium’s imec research centre, welcomed Flemish participation in India’s AI Impact Summit, and agreed to continue startup-incubation cooperation between India’s MEITY Start-Up Hub and Brussels-based hubs.
Mobility, Education and People-to-People Ties
Recognising growing exchanges between the two countries, the leaders committed to faster visa processing and welcomed reinforcement of Belgian visa services in India, alongside a new EU Legal Gateway Office pilot aimed at easing legal migration pathways for professionals and students. They also encouraged airlines to explore direct flight connectivity between the two countries and welcomed expanding healthcare cooperation, including pathways for Indian nurses to work in Belgium.
Modi invited leading Belgian universities to set up campuses in India under the country’s New Education Policy, and both sides agreed to deepen cooperation on vocational training, skills recognition, and research exchange, including through Belgium’s VITO institute.
On international affairs, the two leaders backed a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine through dialogue in line with the UN Charter, and discussed developments in West Asia, stressing the importance of diplomatic engagement and safeguarding maritime shipping routes.
Both leaders closed by reaffirming their commitment to a broader India-Belgium partnership grounded in democracy, rule of law and a rules-based international order — with De Wever extending an invitation to Modi for a future bilateral visit to Belgium.
