Under Trump's Trade Cloud, India and EU Close FTA Talks, Sign Defence Pact |
New Delhi: With trade ties between Washington and its partners under strain and global commerce facing renewed uncertainty, India and the European Union on Tuesday (January 27) concluded negotiations on a major free trade agreement, one of the most ambitious either side has pursued – though sensitive sectors remain excluded – and signed their first-ever Security and Defence Partnership, casting the relationship as a reliable anchor in a “complex” global environment.
At the 16th India-EU Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly emphasised stability, predictability and commitment to a rules-based international order, language that came amid disruption in transatlantic trade and the return of tariff-driven economic diplomacy under US President Donald Trump.
The two EU leaders were also chief guests at India’s Republic Day parade the day before, the first time EU representatives have participated in the ceremony.
“The global order is undergoing significant upheaval,” Modi said in his press statement after the talks, adding that “the partnership between India and the European Union will strengthen stability in the international system”.
Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, said the summit sent “a clear message to the world” that “at a time when the global order is being fundamentally reshaped, the European Union and India stand together as strategic and reliable partners”.
His colleague, von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, framed the trade agreement in explicitly geopolitical terms. “By combining our strengths, we reduce strategic dependencies at a time when trade is increasingly weaponised,” she said, adding that the deal demonstrated that “cooperation is the best answer to global challenges”.
None of the leaders mentioned the United States or Trump by name. But the timing was unmistakable.
India currently operates under a 50% tariff regime imposed by Washington after Trump levied an additional 25% duty last year on Indian goods over purchases of Russian oil. The EU, meanwhile, has only recently stepped back from a fresh escalation after Trump threatened additional tariffs and political retaliation linked to Greenland, prompting the European parliament to freeze the ratification of a provisional EU-US trade understanding earlier this month.
The summit produced 13 agreed outcomes spanning trade, security, mobility, science and technology, disaster management and clean energy cooperation.
The centrepiece of the summit was the conclusion of negotiations on the India-EU free trade agreement, described by both sides as the largest and most ambitious trade pact they have concluded.
None of the leaders mentioned the United States or Trump, but the timing was unmistakable. Photo: AP/PTI.
The 27-member bloc is India’s........