India, Belgium Sign Mou For Renewable Energy Cooperation

(MENAFN- Live Mint) New Delhi: India and Belgium signed an agreement to deepen cooperation in renewable energy and clean technology, targeting key sectors such as green hydrogen, offshore wind, and critical mineral recycling. The accord was finalized during Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever's visit to New Delhi, where both nations pledged to accelerate decarbonization efforts and strengthen industrial supply chains.

The Belgian prime minister is on a three-day visit to India starting Wednesday.

The framework builds upon a decade of bilateral climate dialogue, expanding joint initiatives to include advanced energy storage, bioenergy, and pumped hydro systems. Speaking at a joint press briefing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that reliable supply chains and a clean energy transition remain shared strategic priorities, pointing to growing joint ventures in green ammonia and defence manufacturing.

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The agreement focuses on the green hydrogen value chain-spanning production, transport, storage, and industrial application. Both governments highlighted existing partnerships between Indian entities, the Belgian Hydrogen Council, and Flanders Investment & Trade as blueprints for scaling up technology transfers and reciprocal trade.

Beyond clean power, the pact aligns with broader diplomatic and environmental goals, including commitments to climate adaptation, ocean conservation, and international finance for developing nations. The agreement reflects India's strategy to leverage European technology and capital to satisfy its surging energy demand while advancing its long-term net-zero targets.

Modi said that the scope of cooperation has expanded beyond traditional sectors to strategic areas such as defence and clean energy. "We are working together on advanced defence equipment, such as the Zorawar tank. In Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, we are developing one of the world's largest green ammonia projects," he said.

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The MEA statement said that both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, its long-term goals, including the temperature goal, and its principles, including equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of their different national circumstances.

"They support a successful COP31 (31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) that advances implementation and results in enhanced action on the ground," it said.

Experts said that collaboration on clean energy would help both the energy transition and energy security.

India's twin priorities of climate change and energy security demand clean energy access and technology partnerships, making Belgium's deeper role a welcome step, said Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor of geopolitics at Pune's Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE).“It will help India in achieving the twin objectives of transition to cleaner energy and ensuring energy security," he said.

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Stronger climate action in developing nations hinges on accessible finance, clean‐tech transfer, and global cooperation, according to the joint statement from India and Belgium.

The two countries pledged stronger climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and ocean governance, highlighting the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement and global cooperation, according to MEA.

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