Kaja Kalas reached New Delhi: New momentum to India-EU relations regarding defense agreement and FTA

European Union Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kalas arrived in New Delhi on Saturday (January 24) on her first official visit to India. His visit has come for the agreement to take the strategic, defense and economic cooperation between India and the European Union to new heights. Welcoming him on social media platform X, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that this visit is an important opportunity to further strengthen the India-EU strategic partnership. He noted that in recent years, relations between the two sides have gained significant momentum due to frequent high-level dialogues.

Kalas’s visit comes after he addressed the European Parliament and committed to a new and comprehensive agenda with India. In that address he told that the European Union has approved the signing of a new security and defense partnership agreement with India. Under this proposed agreement, cooperation will be further deepened in areas like maritime security, anti-terrorism cooperation and cyber defense.

Kalas said he was looking forward to the signing of the agreement during the India-EU summit in New Delhi next week. This is seen as a major step forward in defense cooperation between India and the EU, at a time when global security challenges are rapidly changing.

The 16th India-EU summit to be held in New Delhi holds special importance for both the sides. During this period, there is a possibility of adopting a new comprehensive strategic agenda, which will decide the direction of bilateral relations in the coming years. Earlier, the 15th summit was held virtually in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also expressed optimism about the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. During the World Economic Forum in Davos, he described the potential agreement as the “Mother of All Deals”, saying that it would create a common market of two billion people, which would represent about a quarter of global GDP. He acknowledged that challenges still exist, but the EU is very close to this historic agreement.

Ursula von der Leyen herself is scheduled to visit India next week to take forward FTA negotiations and give a new edge to economic cooperation. In this sequence, European Council President Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen will come to India on a three-day state visit from 25 to 27 January. He will be the chief guest at the 76th Republic Day celebrations of India.

During this visit, Costa and Ursula von der Leyen will co-chair the 16th India-EU Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 January. He is also scheduled to meet President Draupadi Murmu and have detailed delegation level talks with Prime Minister Modi. Also, the India-EU Business Forum will be held parallel to the summit, which aims to boost trade and investment cooperation.

The visit of Kaza Kalas, the Republic Day special guest and the summit, all these events are being seen as a turning point towards rapidly enhancing defence, trade and strategic cooperation in India-EU relations.

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