India, Belgium to strengthen defence, semiconductors ties

India and Belgium on Thursday agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence, semiconductors and intelligence sharing, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Belgian counterpart Bart De Wever in New Delhi. De Wever, who is on a three-day official visit to India, arrived in the national capital on Wednesday.

After a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House, PM Modi said, “India 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.” “In the last quarter, we have recorded a growth of 7.8 per cent. Today, India's growth story is becoming a source of confidence and new opportunities for the world,” he said.

“Ten 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. Today, the scope of our cooperation has expanded beyond traditional sectors to reach strategic areas such as defence and clean energy,” he said.

“We are working together on modern defence equipment like the Zorawar tank. In Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, we are developing one of the world's largest green ammonia projects,” he said. PM Modi stated that a clean energy future and a reliable supply chain are the shared priorities of the two countries.

“The MoU signed today on renewable energy will give new momentum to our sustainability cooperation. In critical minerals, we have decided to increase cooperation in processing and recycling,” he added. “In semiconductors, Belgium's expertise and India's scale are complementary to each other.

In this direction, we will work together to connect Belgium's IMEC Institute with India's semiconductor ecosystem,” he said. PM Modi highlighted that the roots of India-Belgium relations are deeply embedded in history. “The courage and sacrifice of thousands of Indian soldiers in Belgium during the First World War form an important part of our shared memory,” Modi said.

This is De Wever’s first visit to India since taking office in February 2025. It is also the first visit by a Belgian Prime Minister to India in two decades, marking a significant new phase in India-Belgium relations. The visit builds on the Belgian Economic Mission led by Princess Astrid in March 2025 (around 40 MoUs signed) and the inaugural India-Belgium Strategic Dialogue in July 2026, providing an opportunity to translate the recent momentum into concrete outcomes and take the relationship from established economic cooperation towards a broader strategic partnership.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever will also visit Mumbai on September 4, highlighting the strong economic foundations of the partnership. He is scheduled to visit the Bharat Diamond Bourse, a massive diamond exchange located in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), underscoring the significance of the diamond trade in India-Belgium relations and opportunities for further cooperation in the sector.

De Wever is accompanied by Theo Francken, Belgium’s Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, along with a delegation of defence industries. The two sides reviewed and signed pacts on defence industrial cooperation, which will bring Belgian technology to India.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now.

Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016.

He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021.

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