India and the European Union (EU) are going to formally announce the completion of their much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in a major summit to be held in New Delhi today. This agreement has been finalized after nearly 20 years of long negotiations and is being considered a major diplomatic and economic success for India.
Modi-von der Leyen summit today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa today. In this meeting, along with trade, agreement is also expected on the framework related to strategic defense partnership and movement of people.
Commerce Secretary confirmed
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal said on Monday that India-EU FTA negotiations have been successfully completed. He said that this agreement has been made keeping in mind the balanced and future from India’s perspective, which will further strengthen India’s connection with the European economy.
According to Aggarwal, legal scrubbing of the agreement document is going on. As soon as all the formalities are completed, it can be signed this year and it can come into effect early next year. In India, it will have to get the approval of the Union Cabinet and in EU, it will have to get the approval of the European Parliament.
‘The world benefits from India’s success’: Von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen, who was the chief guest on Republic Day, described India-EU relations as strategic. He wrote on social media platform X, ‘A successful India makes the world more stable, prosperous and secure.’
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has already called this agreement the ‘Mother of All Deals’. Its negotiations began in 2007, making it one of India’s longest trade negotiations.
24 chapters, many sectors will be included
This FTA has a total of 24 chapters, which include trade in goods, services, investment. Along with this, separate agreements are also being negotiated on investment protection and Geographical Indication (GI).
today’s complete program
The program will start at 11:10 am with a tribute at Rajghat. After this there will be a meeting with Prime Minister Modi at Hyderabad House. A joint press statement will be issued at 1:15 pm. In the evening, Von der Leyen will also attend a business event and meet the Vice President and the President.
What is the benefit to Indian exporters
Sectors like textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, chemicals, machinery can get huge benefits from this agreement. In the EU, there is currently a duty of about 10% on many labor-intensive products, which may be reduced or eliminated after the FTA.
Important agreement between American tariffs
Global trade is affected by the heavy tariffs imposed by America. In such a situation, easy access to a big market like EU is considered very important for India. With this, India will get new markets and its dependence on China will also reduce.
EU is India’s largest trade partner
Total trade between India and EU in the financial year 2024-25 was 136.53 billion dollars, India’s surplus was 15.17 billion dollars. EU is India’s largest goods trading partner and about 17% of India’s total exports go to EU.
Eighth big trade agreement of NDA government
Along with the India-EU agreement, the NDA government is set to finalize eight major trade agreements by 2014, including agreements with Australia, the UK, the UAE, the EFTA bloc and Mauritius.
