• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to seal a much-awaited free trade deal by this year and boost technology and defence cooperation.

• Ursula von der Leyen was on her landmark official visit as she led the European Union College of Commissioners to India on February 27-28. 

• This is the first visit of the College of Commissioners outside the European continent since the start of their new mandate and also the first such visit in the history of India-EU bilateral ties.

• India and the European Union have been strategic partners since 2004 and their bilateral ties have expanded and deepened across a wide range of areas. 

​​• The EU is India’s largest trading partner, with trade in goods valued at €124 billion in 2023, with an increase of almost 90 per cent in the last decade.

• In their talks, both the leaders also decided to expand two-way defence cooperation, especially in the Indo-Pacific with Von der Leyen announcing that the European Union (EU) was looking at firming up a security and defence pact with India in line with its partnerships with close allies Japan and South Korea.

• Besides the free trade agreement (FTA), the two sides are also eyeing to conclude negotiations for an Investment Protection agreement and a pact on Geographical Indications (GIs).

• The deadline for concluding the trade deal, that would be the largest of its kind globally, came over 17 years after the two sides first began negotiations for it. The talks for the pact was relaunched in June 2022 after they were suspended in 2013.

• As the two largest democracies and open market economies with diverse pluralistic societies, India and EU underscored their commitment and shared interest in shaping a resilient multipolar global order that underpins peace and stability, economic growth and sustainable development.

• Both leaders expressed confidence that this momentous visit will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of relations and reaffirmed their commitment to further expand and deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership. 

The leaders agreed on following steps:

i) Further focused discussions on defence industry and policy to explore opportunities from new initiatives and programmes.

ii) A review meeting with partners to take stock on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative.

iii) Engage on maritime domain awareness with a view to promoting shared assessment, coordination and interoperability.

iv) Convene the next meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) at an early date to deepen cooperation in semiconductors and other critical technologies.

v) Enhance the dialogue on clean and green energy between governments and industry, with a focus on green hydrogen.

vi) Strengthening collaboration in the Indo-Pacific including through trilateral cooperation projects.

vii) Strengthen cooperation on disaster management through the development of appropriate arrangements including on policy and technical level engagement for preparedness, response capacities and coordination.

Additional Read: 

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The EU is an economic and political union of 27 countries. It operates an internal (or single) market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.

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