New Delhi: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday described the India–EU Free Trade Agreement as “the mother of all deals”, calling it a historic breakthrough that creates a combined market of nearly two billion people and sends a strong signal in favour of cooperation at a time of rising global uncertainty.“We did it. We delivered the mother of all deals,” von der Leyen said, adding that the pact would cut up to €4 billion in annual tariffs for exporters of all sizes and create good jobs for millions of workers in India and Europe.
Addressing a joint press meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the 16th India–EU Summit, von der Leyen said that the agreement brings together the world’s fourth- and second-largest economies in a “true win-win partnership” that will integrate supply chains, strengthen joint manufacturing and reduce strategic dependencies in an era when trade is increasingly weaponised.
She said that the agreement builds on the natural complementarity of the two economies, combining India’s skills, services and scale with Europe’s technology, capital and innovation. Together, she said, these strengths can unlock levels of growth that neither side could achieve alone.
Beyond trade, von der Leyen announced that India and the EU have launched their first-ever security and defence partnership, calling it a landmark step and a trust-based platform for cooperation on key strategic issues. The partnership will deepen collaboration in areas such as maritime security, including joint naval exercises to counter piracy, as well as cyber and hybrid threat mitigation.
She said the two sides will also establish a dedicated dialogue on space security, covering situational awareness and secure connectivity, step up cooperation on counter-terrorism, and launch negotiations on a security of information agreement.
“Europe and India have chosen to be reliable partners to one another,” she said.
On innovation as another pillar of the partnership, von der Leyen said the EU and India share core values around freedom of research and science. She announced that work is underway on India’s association with Horizon Europe, the world’s largest public research programme with a funding envelope of €100 billion.
The two sides will also set up EU–India innovation hubs to support collaboration between researchers and startups on next-generation technologies, and launch an EU–India startup partnership to boost co-creation and high-potential ventures in areas such as health, clean energy and frontier technologies.
Mobility of people is another key element of the renewed partnership. Von der Leyen said an agreement on mobility will facilitate the movement of students, researchers, seasonal workers and highly skilled professionals. She also announced the launch of the first EU legal gateway office in India, which will act as a one-stop hub to support Indian talent moving to Europe in line with member states’ needs and policies.
She reflected on India’s recent celebration of Makar Sankranti, describing it as a powerful metaphor for the partnership. “From darkness to light, from stillness to growth, from what was to what can be,” she said, signalling a new phase in India–EU relations marked by deeper economic integration, shared security and people-to-people ties.
