India - EU FTA

India - EU FTA

Summary. On Jan. 27, the European Union and India reached a landmark free trade deal that is expected to double the former's exports to India by 2032 and it will, in return, reduce tariffs on 99.5% of goods imported from India. Concluded after about two decades of negotiations, the deal has been described as the “mother of all deals” by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as it which aims to remove trade barriers and open up new export opportunities, creates the world's largest free trade zone, encompassing two billion people and nearly 25% of global gross domestic product.

India and the European Union (EU) have concluded negotiations for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the largest such deal ever concluded by either side. It will strengthen economic and political ties between the world's second and fourth largest economies, at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and global economic challenges, highlighting their joint commitment to economic openness and rules-based trade.

The agreement came together over nearly two decades of intermittent negotiations and during a geoeconomic crisis triggered by President Trump's trade war. The deal covers about 2 billion people and represents a combined market of nearly $27 trillion and about 25 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), and is expected to significantly reduce tariffs for India and the EU.

The EU and India had first launched negotiations for a free trade agreement in 2007. The talks were suspended in 2013 and then relaunched in 2022. The 14th and last formal negotiating round took place in October 2025, followed by intersessional discussions at technical and political level.

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