India major potential partner for Europe, potential in high tech, digital services: Estonia

Tallinn: Describing India as a major potential partner for Europe as it moves to derisk and reduce single source dependence, the Baltic nation of Estonia has said that it sees high technology, digital services and cyber security as important areas to grow collaboration.

“High tech, digital services, education systems, these sorts of areas, we consider extremely potential. And politically, obviously, it’s clear to the world that India is a major global power. It’s going to be an even more significant global power in the decades to come,” Jonatan Vseviov, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia said.

He added that there is a clear convergence of fundamental issues on how the world should be organised and centrality of territorial integrity and sovereignty between the two nations.

“Being dependent on countries that have a fundamentally different governing system from others, that are authoritarian regimes, is especially acutely seen as a concern. India is a major potential partner for all of Europe,” Vseviov said.

The top diplomat added that besides cooperation in technical fields, his country is seeking to increase the inflow of tourists from India in the near future.

Estonia, which is a member of both the EU and NATO, is looking to expand cooperation on cyber security in particular, a field where it has extensive capability. India has participated in a recent cyber security exercise in Estonia and the country has welcomed an intensification of ties in the field.“Cyber security is one of the main lines of cooperation. And we are both frontline countries. Estonia has been in the front line already from the beginning of 2000s when Russia started, you know, to experiment in this domain,” Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo said.Estonia has been trying to attract Indian companies to expand business ties, showcasing the Baltic nation as a gateway to Europe. Major Indian companies with presence there include Jio and Tata Consultancy Services. New economic zones set up near the capital Tallinn are also being pitched as attractive investment options for Indian companies looking to conduct business in Europe.