Editorial: Speeding up trade deal with EU
Firming up trade deal with the EU will be yet another demonstration of India’s strategic autonomy in matters of trade and business
Fast-tracking the negotiations to firm up a trade deal with the European Union must be seen as a strategic move on the part of India to send the right message to the United States in the wake of its irrational tariff war. This would be yet another demonstration of India’s strategic autonomy in matters of trade and business. A series of meetings has been lined up between the representatives of the 27-member EU bloc and India’s commerce ministry officials over the next few months to finalise the trade deal. The renewed push for a trade agreement with the EU comes close on the heels of the ice-breaking meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held recently at the Chinese port city of Tianjin. The significance of the warm handshake between the two leaders went beyond good optics. The tone and tenor of the statements issued by the two sides on the occasion reflected a fresh and substantive approach to expanding bilateral cooperation. Importantly, Xi spoke about the need for India and China to treat each other as partners, not as rivals, and wanted the ‘dragon and the elephant to dance together.’ Standing firm on its core principles, in the face of provocative actions by the Trump Administration, India has been exploring alternative trade routes to counter America’s bullying tactics. It would be mutually beneficial for India and EU to finalise a trade deal that will signal strategic stability in bilateral ties.
In the first of the proposed ten rounds of meetings, two top negotiators of the EU, in-charge of trade and agriculture, are coming to India this week to hold talks on resolving knotty issues of the deal. The negotiations will culminate at the India-EU leaders’ summit, likely to take place in January or February, 2026. As per media reports, if all goes to plan, there is a possibility of New Delhi inviting EU leaders as chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations. On September 17, the EU Commission will unveil a strategic agenda roadmap document on what it has to offer to India. It will be a policy document to be circulated among the 27 member countries. This ambitious agenda will cut across political, security, defence, trade and tech sectors. Like with the US, agriculture has been a hot-button issue for India with Europe. However, the two sides have agreed to keep dairy, sugar, and rice out of the agriculture trade negotiations. As one of India’s largest trading partners, the EU accounted for 124 billion euros worth of trade in goods in 2023, or 12.2 per cent of total Indian trade. India accounted for 2.2 per cent of the EU’s total trade in goods in 2023. Trade in services between the EU and India reached 59.7 billion euros in 2023, up from 30.4 billion euros in 2020.
