PM Modi hosts top EU leaders for crucial summit talks

New Delhi: Top leaders of India and the European Union will on Tuesday announce the conclusion of negotiations for a landmark trade deal, firm up a strategic defence pact and unveil a broader vision to navigate the geopolitical turbulence and trade disruptions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa for summit talks against the backdrop of new fissures in ties between Europe and the US.

Ahead of the summit, Costa and von der Leyen visited Rajghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

The two EU leaders graced the 77th Republic Day celebrations at the Kartavya Path as chief guests on Monday.

"A successful India makes the world more stable, prosperous and secure. And we all benefit," Von der Leyen said ahead of the summit.

The world has been witnessing new geopolitical upheavals triggered largely by Washington's policies on trade and security.

The long-awaited India-EU free trade agreement, billed as "mother of all deals" is expected to significantly expand the overall trajectory of two-way engagement as it will open up new opportunity for cooperation in diverse areas.

Following the summit talks, the two sides will announce conclusion of the negotiations for the FTA and it may take at least six months to formally sign the deal as it will require legal scrubbing by both the sides.

The EU and India had first launched negotiations for the free trade agreement in 2007, before the talks were suspended in 2013 due to a gap in ambition. The negotiations were relaunched in June 2022.

The EU, as a bloc, is India's largest trading partner in goods. For the financial year 2024-25, India's total trade in goods with the EU was worth about USD 136 billion, with exports around USD 76 billion and imports at USD 60 billion.

The broad focus of the summit will be on trade, defence and security, climate change, critical technologies and strengthening the rules-based global order, officials said.

Besides firming up the free trade agreement, the two sides are set to unveil a defence framework pact and a strategic agenda.

India and the European Union have been strategic partners since 2004.

The proposed Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) will facilitate deeper defence and security cooperation between the two sides, officials said.

The SDP will bring interoperability in the defence domain and will open up avenues for Indian firms to participate in the EU's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) programme.

The SAFE is the EU's Euro 150 billion financial instrument designed to provide financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness.

At the summit, India and the EU are also set to launch the negotiations for a Security of Information Agreement (SOIA).

The SOIA is expected to boost industrial defence cooperation between the two sides.

The two sides are also set to ink an agreement on facilitating the mobility of Indian workers to Europe.

It will provide a framework for advancing mobility initiatives by EU member states with India, the officials said.

France, Germany and Italy are among the European nations that have migration and mobility partnerships with India.

The two sides are also expected to ink a number of agreements to provide for deeper cooperation in a range of other sectors.

They are also likely to deliberate on the pressing global challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine war.

While the two sides don't see eye-to-eye on everything, they do share a core set of interests which include having a stable international order, European officials said last week.

The summit will also be an opportunity to discuss with India "Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine", they said.

President Costa will reiterate the message that this war represents an existential threat for Europe and poses a direct challenge to the rules-based international order and that it has clear consequences also in the Indo-Pacific, the officials noted.

The ties between India and the EU have been on an upswing over the last few years.