By Admin 
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said India and the European Union (EU) are close to announcing a ‘historic trade deal’ at the summit next week. It will cover one-fourth of the global GDP, covering a market of about 200 crore people.
Ursula Vaughan, head of the European Commission, the administrative unit of the European Union, said this at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He said that the announcement of the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the EU will be a historic opportunity and will give Europe the advantage of a first move into the world’s rapidly growing market.
EU close to historic deal with India: Ursula von
Ursula Vaughan said, ‘I am going on a trip to India. Although there is still work to do, we are close to a historic trade agreement. Some people have called it the mother of all deals. This will be an agreement that will create a market of about 200 crore people which will be about a quarter of the global GDP.
Ursula will be on a visit to India from 25 to 27 January along with the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa. Both the leaders will attend the Republic Day celebrations as chief guests. He also has a program of summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from FTA, in this summit, both sides also plan to prepare a defense infrastructure agreement and a strategic agenda for 2026-2030.
Ursula Vaughn mentioned geopolitics
The proposed Security and Defense Partnership (SDP) will enable deeper defense and security cooperation between the two sides and provide an opportunity to Indian companies to participate in the EU’s ‘Security Action for Europe’ (SAFE) programme. Referring to the challenges of global geopolitics, Ursula Vaughan said that issues like Russia-Ukraine war, energy security and technology competition are the priorities of the EU.
He said that Europe has taken rapid steps in the energy, raw materials, defense and digital sectors and now we have to take advantage of the opportunity by adopting sustainable change. India and the European Union have been strategic partners since 2004. The first talks on FTA between the two started in 2007, but were stopped in 2013. Talks were resumed in June 2022. Both sides are now in the final stages of agreeing on a comprehensive agreement in the areas of trade, investment, defense and technical cooperation.
Big blow to Donald Trump
The statement of European Union President Ursula Vaughn has come at a time when India is facing American tariffs. Apart from this, no final decision has been taken yet regarding the trade deal between India and America. However, Trump has been repeatedly indicating that the issue of trade deal with India will be resolved soon. Trump has imposed 50 percent tariff on India. In such a situation, Trump’s plans were ruined due to the trade deal with the European Union.