Jaishankar Urges Stronger India-EU Ties to Derisk Global Order as von der Leyen and Costa Head to Delhi for Republic Day
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with ambassadors from all 27 European Union countries ahead of the high-level state visit by European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later this month.
The visit will coincide with India’s 77th Republic Day celebrations and the 16th India-EU Summit, where both sides are expected to finalise a historic free trade agreement and deepen cooperation on security and strategic matters.
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| Image Source: EAM Jaishankar |
“Spoke to them about the current state of the world with volatility and instability as the new normal,” he wrote on X.
“Made a case for stronger India-EU relations that will: derisk the world economy by cooperating on resilient supply chains; reassure the international community by providing public goods like HADR, anti-piracy operations, development projects; and stabilise the global order through stronger trade, mobility and security partnership.”
His remarks reflect India’s increasing strategic alignment with the EU amid a breakdown of multilateral institutions and global uncertainty triggered by protectionism, war, and systemic economic disruptions.
The India-EU relationship, elevated to a strategic partnership in 2004, has gained new momentum in recent years, particularly following the visit of the EU College of Commissioners to New Delhi in 2025.
At the 16th India-EU Summit on January 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Costa and President von der Leyen are expected to announce the conclusion of the long-pending India-EU Free Trade Agreement — a deal first proposed in 2007 and revived in 2022.
The agreement is projected to create a combined market of 2 billion people and account for nearly 25% of global GDP. Indian officials have confirmed that 20 of the 24 chapters of the agreement have been closed and the remaining points are in advanced stages of resolution.
Speaking earlier at Davos, von der Leyen described the agreement as “the mother of all deals,” positioning it as part of Europe’s strategic pivot toward Asia.
“This is one that would create a market of two billion people... and provide a first mover advantage for Europe with one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic continents,” she said. The EU, she added, will always “choose the world” over isolationism and expects the same from its partners.
The summit will also see the unveiling of a Security and Defence Partnership between India and the EU, expanding bilateral cooperation under the EU’s SAFE (Security and Defence Procurement) programme.
India’s participation in SAFE, a €150 billion EU initiative, is expected to enable access to new joint procurement frameworks and defence interoperability standards.
Alongside, both parties will also launch negotiations on a Security of Information Agreement to bolster industrial defence collaboration.
The growing convergence between India and the EU also comes amid renewed trade friction with the United States, including threats of high tariffs on both Indian and European exports.
For both New Delhi and Brussels, the agreement signals a desire to build diversified and stable trade linkages independent of singular strategic dependencies.
Beyond economics, India and the EU are also engaging in broader global norm-shaping. The new agreements will focus on resilience-building across energy, climate action, digital technology, and development cooperation — areas where both sides see shared interests.
The partnership aims to stabilise key parts of the global order through economic interdependence, infrastructure cooperation, and multilateral rule-setting.
The visit by Costa and von der Leyen will also include official meetings with President Droupadi Murmu and PM Modi, as well as a Business Forum to further institutionalise trade and investment dialogue between the two regions.
The outcomes of the summit are expected to shape India-EU cooperation well into the next decade.