EU-India outline strategy for new cooperation. Modi: “Trade agreement by the end of this year”

Brussels – Trade, technology, innovation, and investment. And a commitment to a new free trade agreement as early as 2025. Ursula von der Leyen and her college of commissioners found the answers they sought in India. The trip to the East, which the EU Commission president wanted, produces the desired effects. Of course, all are to be defined and developed concretely. Nonetheless, there is a renewed partnership. There is an agreement, explains India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, for “a blueprint for collaboration in the areas of Trade, Investment, Innovation, Green Growth, Security, and Mobility.” There is a clear strategy to work on.

Europe did not hide what it was looking for in the East. It needed an answer, and Modi publicly offered it at a press conference. “This visit has given new momentum to our partnership,” he acknowledged to a smiling von der Leyen, beaming to hear from the Indian prime minister that “we have decided to create a bold and ambitious roadmap for the India-EU partnership for the period beyond 2025,” which also includes the desire to sign “a bilateral free trade agreement by the end of this year.”

In principle, von der Leyen gets everything she wants. “It’s time to take our strategic EU-India partnership to the next level” is the mantra the German official also repeated during her trip to South Asia, and that is precisely what she achieves. She arrived in India with a clear agenda of three areas to work on for the new season of bilateral relations: trade and technology, security and defense, connectivity, and global partnership. She secures Modi’s commitments in this regard.

“Now more than ever, the geopolitical context asks for decisive action,” von der Leyen said at a joint conference with the Indian premier. A reference to Russian military maneuvers in Ukraine, Trump’s unilateralism in foreign policy and trade matters, and China silently but not idly watching what is happening on the international chessboard. “For Europe, India is a pillar of certainty in an increasingly uncertain world.” Now, the EU can begin to feel less insecure.