“Yesterday, a big agreement was signed between the European Union and India,” Modi said. “People around the world are calling this the mother of all deals. This agreement will bring major opportunities for the 1.4 billion people of India and the millions of people in Europe,” News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
After nearly two decades of intermittent negotiations, the agreement will pave the way for India to open its vast and traditionally protected market — the world’s largest by population — to free trade with the 27-nation European Union, which is India’s largest trading partner.
Modi added that the deal represents about 25% of global gross domestic product and roughly one-third of global trade.
The Indian prime minister and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, are expected to make a joint announcement later on Tuesday at an India–EU summit in New Delhi, where further details of the agreement are set to be unveiled.
Trade between India and the EU reached $136.5 billion in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, underscoring the scale of economic ties the agreement aims to deepen.
The deal comes just days after the EU signed a pivotal trade pact with the South American bloc Mercosur, following agreements concluded last year with Indonesia, Mexico and Switzerland. During the same period, New Delhi finalised trade pacts with Britain, New Zealand and Oman.
The flurry of trade agreements highlights broader global efforts to reduce exposure to the United States, as ties with Washington have been strained. Actions by President Donald Trump, including his bid to take over Greenland and repeated tariff threats against European countries, have tested long-standing Western alliances.
Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on goods from India, and efforts to conclude an India–U.S. trade agreement collapsed last year following a breakdown in communication between the two governments.
According to an Indian government official familiar with the matter, the formal signing of the India–EU agreement will take place after a legal vetting process expected to last five to six months. “We expect the deal to be implemented within a year,” the official said.
