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India and the EU have agreed to push for a commerce settlement this yr, European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen has mentioned, renewing efforts to shore up ties within the shadow of tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.
The fee chief is main a delegation of senior officers to New Delhi this week geared toward bolstering the bloc’s relations with India.
She added that the EU was “exploring a future security and defence partnership with India” alongside the strains of pacts with Japan and South Korea, which might cowl areas together with terrorism, maritime safety, cyber safety and assaults on essential infrastructure.
Whereas years of commerce negotiations between the EU and India have failed to supply an settlement, Trump’s return to the US presidency has spurred impetus from Brussels to shut commerce offers.
Since November, the bloc has signed a long-awaited settlement with the South American Mercosur bloc, refreshed one with Mexico and reopened moribund negotiations with Malaysia.
Trump has attacked India, which has a few of the highest import duties of any main financial system, as a “tariff king” and has introduced plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from the EU.
In a speech in New Delhi on Friday, von der Leyen mentioned an EU-India pact can be “the largest deal of its kind anywhere in the world” and vowed talks would transfer forward rapidly.
“I am very well aware it will not be easy, but I also know that timing and determination counts and that this partnership counts at the right moment,” she mentioned.
“This is why we have agreed with Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi to push to get it done during this year, and you can count on my full commitment to make sure we can deliver.”
India and the EU started commerce negotiations in 2007, however the effort foundered in 2013. Talks had been dormant for nearly a decade earlier than restarting in 2022, however giant variations remained on points together with entry to the Indian marketplace for European automobiles and spirits.
India has additionally accused Brussels of over-reach in areas together with environmental practices and labour rights.
Modi’s authorities has been a tricky commerce negotiator, together with with the UK and the European Free Commerce Affiliation, the bloc whose members embrace Switzerland, with which it signed an settlement final yr.
“The commission will be driving a hard bargain to make sure that we have an ambitious as well as a commercially meaningful free trade agreement that covers tariffs and non-tariff barriers,” mentioned a senior EU official this week. “Of course, we are ready to respond to India’s requests as well.”
Throughout a go to by Modi to Washington this month, India and the US agreed to barter the primary tranche of a “mutually beneficial, multi-sector” bilateral commerce settlement by autumn.
This got here after Trump criticised India’s “unfair, very strong tariffs” and threatened to levy reciprocal measures if New Delhi didn’t decrease theirs.
This week, India and the UK additionally relaunched long-running talks on a commerce deal, which started in 2022 however had been placed on maintain final yr as the 2 nations held parliamentary elections.
