Trade, security and ties: EU chiefs head to India for 'mother of all deals' free trade talks

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : Von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will attend Republic Day celebrations Monday before an EU-India summit Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord.
61% : Its economy in the doldrums, the 27-member EU is also pushing to ease exports of spirits and wines and strengthen intellectual property rules.
59% : "India is one of the most heavily protected economies in the world, with very, very high tariffs, including on many products where the European Union has a competitive advantage," he told AFP.
58% : "The EU eyes the Indian market and aims to steer a rising power like India away from Russia, while India seeks to diversify its partnerships, doubling down on its strategy of multi-alignment at a time when its relations with the US have taken a downward turn," he said.
57% : Still EU officials said they were confident negotiations could be concluded in time for the summit.
57% : "We're ready to open a new chapter in EU-India relationships, and really to unlock what we think is the transformative potential of this partnership," said another EU official.
56% : Bilateral trade in goods reached €120 billion (US$139 billion; RM568.55 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 per cent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further €60 billion (US$69 billion; RM284.27 billion) in trade in services.
55% : Talks are focusing on a few sticking points, including the impact of the EU's carbon border tax on steel exports and safety and quality standards in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, according to people familiar with the discussions.
55% : The latter envisages closer cooperation in areas including maritime security, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, an EU official said.
54% : Together the EU and India account for about a quarter of the world's population and GDP.
53% : "India still accounts for around only around 2.5 per cent of total EU trade in goods, compared with close to 15 per cent for China," an EU official said, adding the figure gave a sense of the "untapped potential" an agreement could unlock. EU makers of cars, machinery and chemicals have much to gain from India lowering entry barriers, said Ignacio Garcia Bercero, an analyst at Brussels think tank Bruegel, who led EU trade talks with New Delhi over a decade ago.
49% : It is also a "precondition" for the possible joint production of military equipment, said a second EU official.
48% : BRUSSELS, Jan 24 -- India and Europe hope to strike the "mother of all deals" when EU chiefs meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi next week, as the two economic behemoths seek to forge closer ties.
45% : Facing challenges from China and the United States, India and the European Union have been negotiating a massive free trade pact - and talks, first launched about two decades ago, are nearing the finishing line.
42% : Defence pact EU officials were tight-lipped about the deal's contents as negotiations are ongoing.
37% : "The EU and India are moving closer together at the time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented pressure through wars, coercion and economic fragmentation," the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas said Wednesday. 'Untapped potential' Russia's invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump's punitive tariffs have brought momentum to the relationship between India and the EU, said Praveen Donthi, of the International Crisis Group think tank.

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