'India-EU FTA will transform trade, deeply strategic', says Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri

Vikram Misri

• India and EU finalize historic free trade deal, boosting transformative trade.
• FTA to improve market access, cut tariffs, and create jobs in both regions
• Deals made on security, defense, and mobility for Indian professionals

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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday described the outcomes of the 16th India-European Union Summit as “deeply strategic in nature”, underlining that New Delhi and Brussels have decided to elevate their partnership at a time of profound shifts in the global economic and geopolitical landscape.

Addressing the media in New Delhi, Misri said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “co-chaired the 16th India-EU summit” and held extensive discussions in both restricted and delegation-level formats.

He noted that several key documents were signed and exchanged before the leaders, including “the joint announcement on the conclusion of the negotiations of a landmark and historic India-EU free trade agreement, an equally important security and defence partnership agreement between the two sides, and an MOU on comprehensive framework on cooperation on mobility, among others.”

Calling the free trade agreement a game-changer, Misri said, “India-EU FTA to boost trade in transformative manner. India-EU strategic partnership is extremely valuable. EU is India's largest bilateral trading partner. Outcome of deal is deeply strategic.”

He added that the agreement will open new opportunities across sectors, including defence manufacturing, noting, “Indian defence companies will benefit from the FTA.”

The foreign secretary also highlighted the significance of the mobility pact, stating, “The MoU on comprehensive mobility will support skill development, and regular migration between the two sides. Deal is extraordinary, transformative.”

Misri said the presence of the EU’s top leadership in India reflected the importance both sides attach to the relationship.

“The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, are on a state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said, adding that both leaders were chief guests at the Republic Day celebrations. “This is the first time ever that we've had European leaders as guests of honour for our Republic Day," he said.

He pointed out that EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security and Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, along with senior officials from the Commission and the Council, are also accompanying the delegation.

Reflecting on the broader trajectory of ties, Misri said relations between India and the EU have grown steadily over the past decade, “not just in scale but in significance as well.” He stressed that in a fast-changing world, the partnership carries weight beyond bilateral considerations.

“As the world's second and fourth largest markets, India and the EU also have very high stakes on all critical global challenges of the day, including over-dependence and concentration of global manufacturing and supply chains on a limited set of geographies, an ineffective multilateral system, emerging multipolarity, and growing protectionist tendencies in different parts of the world,” he said.

Describing both sides as large pluralistic democracies and open market economies, Misri said their leaders have resolved to take the strategic partnership forward “for mutual benefit and for the greater good of the global population as a whole.”

He also referred to the engagement with the business community, noting that Prime Minister Modi and President von der Leyen addressed the India-EU Business Forum at Bharat Mandapam, where more than 100 CEOs from both sides participated.

According to Misri, the overall set of outcomes from the summit sends a clear message about India and the EU’s intent to work together as trusted and predictable partners.

He underlined that trade, security, defence cooperation and people-to-people exchanges now form the core pillars of this expanded engagement.

On the significance of the summit, Misri said the decisions taken by the leaders reflect a shared understanding that closer India-EU cooperation can contribute to stability, resilience and balanced growth in an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment.