EU council president arrives in India to seal trade pact

NEW DELHI: European Council president Antonio Costa arrived in India on Sunday, as the EU and New Delhi seek to seal a free trade pact, capping nearly two decades of negotiations between the economic behemoths.

Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday before an EU-India summit Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord, described as the “mother of all deals”.

“President Costa is in New Delhi for the 16th EU-India summit taking place on Tuesday,” the EU Council said on X.

“The summit will be an opportunity to build on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen collaboration across key policy areas.”

India, the world’s most populous nation, is on track to become the world’s fourth largest economy this year, according to International Monetary Fund projections.

While the EU eyes India as an important market for the future, New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs for its people.

READ MORE: Europe and India seek closer ties with ‘mother of all deals’

“We are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement,” Leyen said ahead of the summit.

Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services.

The pact would be a major win for Brussels and New Delhi as both seek to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls.

“The EU and India are moving closer together at the time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented pressure through wars, coercion and economic fragmentation,” the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas said Wednesday.

Negotiations, however, are still ongoing with talks focusing on a few sticking points, including the impact of the EU’s carbon border tax on steel exports and safety and quality standards in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, according to people familiar with the discussions.

New Delhi, which has relied on Moscow for decades for key military hardware, has tried to cut its dependence on Russia in recent years by diversifying imports and pushing its own domestic manufacturing base. Europe is doing the same vis-a-vis the United States.