New Delhi, Jul 15 (IANS): All democratic countries must come together to deal with new economic challenges in the post-Covid world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the European Union on Wednesday.

Addressing the India-EU Summit 2020, through video conferencing, the Prime Minister said that he wants the India-EU relationship to strengthen further and is working towards this. "For the same, we must work on a long-term strategic perspective," he said.

"We must also build an action-oriented agenda which can be implemented. India and EU are natural partners. Our partnership is useful for peace in the world."

Highlighting that both India and the EU share universal values like democracy, pluralism, inclusiveness, respect for international institutions, multilateralism, freedom and transparency, PM Modi made a strong pitch for even stronger relations between EU and India, particularly in the post-Covid era.

He also expressed his sympathies at the brunt Europe had to bear due to the pandemic.

Noting India has sent medicines to nearly 150 countries, he stressed that the country's pharma companies can contribute to the global attempt to deal with the pandemic.

Citing how the India-EU summit in March had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he, however, expressed happiness at being able to connect through virtual medium.