As part of the EU College of Commissioners’ high-profile visit to New Delhi on February 28, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU College of Commissioners as a whole visited India for the first time, underscoring the two organizations’ growing strategic collaboration. With both leaders pledging to complete the deal by the end of this year, the meeting’s main goal was to forward talks for a comprehensive free trade agreement. Should this arrangement come to pass, it would be the biggest of its sort in the world.
Modi and von der Leyen stressed the significance of strengthening collaboration in crucial domains including trade, technology, security, and mobility during their talks. An important step toward strengthening ties is the EU’s agreement to expand mobility for India’s highly trained workers and students.
The two parties have also decided to start a Space Dialogue and work together on new technologies like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and 6G.
India is a “pillar of certainty in an increasingly uncertain world,” according to von der Leyen, highlighting the partnership’s strategic significance. In addition, she emphasized the possibility of a future “Security and Defence Partnership” with India, like to that with South Korea and Japan.
The India-EU alliance is becoming more and more important since the visit takes place during a period of increased geopolitical tensions, particularly difficulties in EU-US relations.
The meeting was a part of a larger engagement that also included numerous other ministerial conversations and the second bilateral ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council. Numerous subjects were discussed in these discussions, such as clean energy, connectivity, and regional security concerns.
Building on two decades of collaboration, the visit is regarded as a turning point in strengthening the strategic alliance between India and the EU.
