India, EU to seal ‘mother of all trade deals’ on Jan 27, FTA enters final phase
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – According to the Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday the India-EU talks on the ‘mother of all deals,’ a long-pending free trade agreement expected to conclude on 27 January, marked a landmark in India’s trade position with the European Union.
It stated that after prolonged deliberations over a decade, the broad-based FTA is expected to catalyze strengthening economic ties between the two regions.
The European Council President António Costa, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas are in India at attend the Republic day celebration and to seal the deal and deepen cooperation across trade, security and defence.
EU chief Ursula will be the Chief Guest at India’s 77th Republic Day celebrations on 26 January.
India-EU agreement is likely to give a strong push to India’s export growth as the uncertainty prevails in global trade talks.
It will raise India’s trade surplus with the European Union by over $50 billion by FY31. Experts suggest that the EU’s share in India’s total exports may also surge from 17.3 per cent in FY25 to 22–23% after the agreement.
The FTA holds significance for Europe as well, media reported.
India accounts for 0.8 per cent of the EU’s export market at present.
EU’s trade surplus with India has reduced to a trade deficit of $15 billion in FY25 from $3 billion in FY19 in the past few years, the.
The India-EU deal will help Europe achieve its objective of shrinking its reliance on China and diversifying its global supply chains.
The change in growth figures is expected as the agreement allows a change in the type of India’s exports to the EU.
India will be able to export a larger percentage of higher-value products, such as electronics, machinery and chemicals after the free trade agreement.
The trade was dominated by the export of traditional labour-intensive goods.
This is expected to improve the EU’s share in India’s exports, which has dropped to 16.8% so far in FY26.
The India-EU FTA is expected to make trade cheaper and more predictable, officials noted.
