India-EU FTA: Can count on PM Modi to create peace, says European Council President António Costa

President António Costa at the EU-India summit.

• EU Council President says Modi can help create conditions for global peace
• Summit backs comprehensive peace in Ukraine respecting its sovereignty
• India-EU security partnership reaches new strategic level

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President of the European Council, António Luís Santos da Costa, said on Friday that the European Union could “count on” Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help create the conditions for peace, underlining India’s growing diplomatic weight at a time of global conflict.

Speaking at the EU-India summit, Costa recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s message on peace, saying, “Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.” He said the words remain deeply relevant as the world searches for an end to ongoing wars.

Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, the European Council President said the summit reaffirmed support for “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” that fully respects Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He added that Ukraine had shown readiness for peace, “including at the cost of difficult compromises”.

“I know, dear Prime Minister, that we can count on you to help create the conditions for peace, through dialogue and diplomacy,” Costa said, directly acknowledging Modi’s potential role as a bridge-builder on the global stage.

Costa also highlighted the broader strategic partnership between India and the European Union, describing India as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and calling trade a “crucial geopolitical stabiliser”. He said the proposed free trade agreement would be “one of the most ambitious agreements ever concluded”, creating a market of nearly two billion people.

“In a multipolar world, the European Union and India are working together to grow spheres of shared prosperity,” Costa said, stressing that prosperity cannot exist without security. He said the new security and defence partnership marked “a new level of strategic trust” between India and the EU, calling it the first overarching defence and security framework between the two sides.