India and EU Conclude Talks on Joining Horizon Europe Research Programme
India and the European Union have finished negotiations for India to join Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research and innovation programme, with association expected to begin in January 2027 once the agreement is signed.
India and the European Union have finished negotiations for India to join Horizon Europe, the European Union’s flagship research and innovation programme, India’s Ministry of Science and Technology announced on November 7.
The talks closed a process that began after the India-EU summit on January 27, 2026, when the two sides started exploring an association. Formal negotiations began after a ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council in Brussels on July 15, 2026, according to an official statement carried by the Press Information Bureau.
Once the association takes effect, Indian researchers, institutions and industry will be able to take part in Horizon Europe funding calls through joint research projects, and will gain access to European research consortia and research infrastructure. The association is expected to begin in January 2027, after the agreement is signed and the required procedures are completed on both sides.
What the association covers
India’s participation will focus on Pillar II of Horizon Europe, the programme’s largest part, which covers health, digital technologies, industry and space, climate, energy and mobility, and food and the bioeconomy. Those areas line up with India’s own research priorities, the statement said.
Horizon Europe runs from 2021 to 2027 with a budget of 93.5 billion euros. The association will also deepen talent mobility and lead to joint work on critical technologies, standards and solutions, according to the statement.
A long-standing science partnership
India and the EU already cooperate under an agreement on science and technology cooperation first signed in 2001 and recently renewed until 2030. Research and innovation also form a pillar of the Joint EU-India Comprehensive Strategic Agenda towards 2030, adopted at the EU-India summit in January 2026.
The statement described the association as a move into a long-term institutional framework of research cooperation between the two sides, building on existing research projects and cooperation under the science and technology agreement and the Trade and Technology Council.
Reporting based on coverage by IANS and the Press Information Bureau.
