EU Unveils New Strategic Agenda to Elevate Ties With India

The European Union on Wednesday unveiled a new strategic agenda aimed at deepening political, economic, and security ties with India, with a focus on finalising a long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2025.

“Europe is already India’s biggest trading partner and we are committed to finalising our Free Trade Agreement by the end of the year. Europe is open for business. And we are ready to invest in our shared future with India,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement from Brussels.

She also extended birthday wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turned 75 on September 17. Modi, in response, said India was ready to take relations “to the next level” and reiterated New Delhi’s support for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.

The strategy document — jointly adopted by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs — outlines cooperation across five broad pillars: prosperity and sustainability, technology and innovation, security and defence, connectivity and global governance, and people-to-people ties.

Key proposals include:

• Trade & Economy: Expediting the EU–India FTA, boosting investment, and diversifying supply chains.

• Technology: Collaboration in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, high-performance computing, and space technology.

• Security & Defence: Joint work on maritime security, cyber defence, counterterrorism, regional security, and defence industrial cooperation.

• Global Governance: Coordinated engagement on UN reforms, WTO modernisation, climate action, human rights, and multilateral security issues.

• Mobility & Exchanges: Expanding digital skills mobility, education partnerships, cultural diplomacy, and EU-India business forums.

The EU underlined that closer engagement with India has become increasingly vital amid shifting geopolitical realities, particularly in the Indo-Pacific and in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.