At Republic Day, EU President Says ‘Honour of a Lifetime’
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday underlined the growing global significance of India, saying that a strong and successful India contributes directly to a more stable, prosperous and secure world. Her remarks came as she arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit, coinciding with India’s 77th Republic Day celebrations, where she was among the chief guests.
While calling an “honour of a lifetime” to attend the Republic Day parade, von der Leyen said India’s rise was not just a national story but one with far-reaching global consequences. “A successful India makes the world more stable, prosperous and secure. And we all benefit,” she wrote in a post on X, reflecting the European Union’s increasingly strategic view of its partnership with New Delhi.
Von der Leyen is in India for high-level summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside European Council President Antonio Costa. The visit is being seen as a key diplomatic moment, with both sides expected to formally announce the conclusion of negotiations on a long-pending India–EU free trade agreement, widely described as “historic” in scale and ambition.
Days before her India visit, the European Commission President had said that New Delhi and Brussels were on the cusp of sealing what she called the “mother of all deals”. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, she noted that the agreement would create a combined market of nearly two billion people, accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP. Such a pact, she argued, would give Europe a crucial first-mover advantage in one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic economic regions.
“Europe wants to do business with the growth centres of today and the economic powerhouses of this century,” von der Leyen said, underlining the EU’s strategic pivot towards deeper economic engagement with India amid shifting global trade patterns.
The European Union is currently India’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade in goods stood at around USD 135 billion in the 2023–24 financial year, reflecting the depth of existing economic ties. Negotiations on the free trade agreement were originally launched in 2007 but were put on hold in 2013 due to differences on market access and regulatory issues. Talks were revived in 2022 amid renewed political momentum on both sides.
As part of the emerging deal, India is reportedly preparing significant tariff cuts on European car imports. According to reports, New Delhi plans to reduce duties on certain high-end vehicles priced above 15,000 euros from as high as 110 per cent to 40 per cent initially, with further reductions to 10 per cent over time. The move is expected to ease entry for European automakers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, marking a major shift in India’s trade policy towards the EU.
