‘Historic’ free trade agreement between EU and India finalised, says Indian source

The European Union and India have concluded a “historic” free trade agreement, which will be officially presented on Tuesday. This was announced on Monday by a senior representative of the Indian Ministry of Commerce.

“The negotiations have been completed and the two parties are ready to present the conclusions of the talks on the free trade agreement on 27 January,” said the ministry's secretary, Rajesh Agrawal.

The agreement comes as no surprise. The sixteenth EU-India summit will take place on Tuesday, and the European Commission has already indicated that the negotiations were coming to an end. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa travelled to India on Sunday, where they were received as guests of honour at the Republic Day parade on Monday.

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The European Union and India have been negotiating since 2007 about the free trade agreement, which fits in with the EU's strategy to diversify its trade relations. This is all the more important now that the United States is no longer a reliable trading partner and the threat of tariffs is never far away. In addition, relations with China remain difficult for both the EU and India due to export restrictions, amongst others.

India is set to become the world's fourth-largest economy this year, while the EU is the second-largest economy. In 2024, trade in goods between the two accounted for 120 billion euros according to European figures - an increase of almost 90 per cent in 10 years, while trade in services accounted for 60 billion euros.

The European Commission still needs to get the green light from member states before it can sign the free trade agreement, which would create a free trade zone of nearly 2 billion people. On Tuesday, the EU and India will already sign a new partnership on security and defence and strengthen their cooperation on innovation and technology.

^{Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen © PHOTO Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA}