India, EU Set To Seal Landmark Trade And Defence Deals

On Tuesday, the top leaders of the European Union and India will declare the completion of negotiations for a landmark trade deal, solidify a strategic defence agreement, and provide a more comprehensive plan to deal with the geopolitical unrest and trade disruptions.

In light of recent strained relations between the US and Europe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for summit discussions.

On Monday, Costa and von der Leyen were chief guests during the 77th Republic Day ceremony along the Kartavya Path.

"A successful India makes the world more stable, prosperous and secure. And we all benefit," Von der Leyen said ahead of the summit.

The world has been witnessing new geopolitical upheavals triggered largely by Washington's policies on trade and security.

The long-awaited India-EU free trade agreement, billed as "mother of all deals", is expected to significantly expand the overall trajectory of two-way engagement as it will open up new opportunities for cooperation in diverse areas.

Both sides will announce the end of the FTA negotiations after the summit talks, but it might take at least six months to actually sign the agreement because both parties will need to scrub it legally.

The EU and India had first launched negotiations for the free trade agreement in 2007, before the talks were suspended in 2013 due to a gap in ambition. In June 2022, the talks were restarted.

India's biggest trading partner in goods is the EU as a whole. India's overall goods trade with the EU for the fiscal year 2024–2025 was approximately USD 136 billion, of which USD 76 billion came from exports and USD 60 billion from imports.

According to officials, the summit's main topics will be trade, defence and security, climate change, essential technologies, and bolstering the rules-based global order.

The two parties plan to announce a defence framework agreement and a strategic agenda in addition to strengthening the free trade agreement.

Since 2004, India and the EU have been strategic allies.

According to officials, increased defence and security collaboration between the two sides will be made possible by the proposed Security and Defence Partnership (SDP).

The SDP will bring interoperability in the defence domain and will open up avenues for Indian firms to participate in the EU's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) programme.

The SAFE is the EU's Euro 150 billion financial instrument designed to provide financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness.

At the summit, India and the EU are also set to launch the negotiations for a Security of Information Agreement (SOIA).

The SOIA is expected to boost industrial defence cooperation between the two sides.

The two sides are also set to ink an agreement on facilitating the mobility of Indian workers to Europe.

It will provide a framework for advancing mobility initiatives by EU member states with India, the officials said.

France, Germany and Italy are among the European nations that have migration and mobility partnerships with India.

In order to facilitate greater collaboration in a variety of other areas, the two parties are also anticipated to sign other agreements.

They will probably also discuss the current world issues, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

European officials stated last week that although the two sides don't agree on everything, they do share a fundamental set of objectives, which includes keeping a stable international order.

They stated that "Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine" will be discussed with India during the summit.

According to the officials, President Costa will restate the warning that this war directly challenges the rules-based international order, constitutes an existential threat to Europe, and has obvious repercussions in the Indo-Pacific.

Over the past few years, relations between India and the EU have improved.