New Delhi, Feb. 10 -- The European Union and India have launched exploratory talks on India's potential association with Horizon Europe, the EU's 93.5 billion euro flagship research and innovation programme, signalling a shared determination to swiftly expand bilateral cooperation.

The discussions, announced by the European Commission on Thursday 5 February, follow the 16th EU-India Summit, where both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening strategic ties across trade, security, science, innovation and mobility. The EU and India had announced the conclusion of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement at the New Delhi summit held on 27 January, which was described as the "mother of all deals".

If the talks result in an associati...