September 9, 2025
NEW DELHI – India and the European Union are preparing to finalise the free trade agreement by December. In the next month, both sides will hold two rounds of important talks. Along with this, work is also going on on new structures like defence cooperation, strategic vision and technology council.
Efforts have intensified to finalise the free trade agreement between India and the European Union by December. In the next month, both sides will hold two rounds of important talks to remove bottlenecks like rules of origin, market access and duty on wine and dairy products. Along with this, India and the EU are also working on many new aspects of defence, strategic and technical cooperation.
According to sources, EU Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen and trade chief Maros Sefcovic are visiting India this week. Here they will have talks with Indian officials so that the FTA can be finalised by the end of this year. The European Union is India’s largest trading partner. Trade in goods between the two reached US $ 135 billion in the financial year 2023-24.
India-EU cooperation is not limited to just trade. On September 17, the European Union will present its new strategic vision for India. It will outline the framework for strengthening defence cooperation, along with giving a new direction to political and strategic relations. This document can be adopted at the India-EU annual summit to be held in India early next year.
India and the EU are working on the ‘Security of Information Agreement’ and other frameworks to give new heights to defense cooperation. Its aim is to work together in the defense sector and jointly develop military equipment. A committee of diplomats from the 27 member countries of the EU will visit India in the coming months. Also, India-EU Counter Terror Dialogue will be held in Brussels this month.
The ‘Trade and Technology Council’ (TTC) was established in 2022 for technology cooperation between India and the EU. Its aim is to increase cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and cyber security. This is the second such framework of the EU. The first was made with the US in June 2021.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a phone conversation with EU leaders Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen. It was agreed to finalise the FTA soon. Both sides expressed commitment to take global stability, rule-based order and India-EU partnership to new heights.
The 13th round of FTA talks will be held in Delhi this week, while the next round will be held in Brussels next month. So far, 11 chapters have been agreed upon, but differences remain on market access and the origin of rules. There are also differences on non-tariff barriers, but both sides are hoping to find a balanced solution.