European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen reacts subsequent to European Union Excessive Consultant for Overseas Affairs and Safety Coverage and European Fee Vice-President Kaja Kallas forward of her handle to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
India and the European Union agreed on Wednesday (January 21, 2026) to signal a brand new Safety and Defence Partnership masking maritime safety, cybersecurity and counterterrorism, the E.U.’s highest rating diplomat Kaja Kallas introduced.
The partnership might be signed subsequent week through the go to of European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa to India, the place they are going to be chief visitors at Republic Day celebrations. The leaders will co-chair the sixteenth India-E.U. Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The preparations for the go to had been going nicely, however weren’t with out challenges, mentioned Ms. Kallas, who might be accompanying the leaders to India.
The go to is centred across the signing of a ‘Free Commerce’ Settlement (FTA), which remains to be being finalised.
India and the E.U. will undertake a brand new complete strategic agenda subsequent week, utilizing a 2030 planning horizon, Ms. Kallas instructed European parliamentarians in Strasbourg. She famous that the E.U. is amongst India’s largest buying and selling companions and described India as “indispensable” to Europe’s financial resilience.
The 2 sides labored on the joint assertion and agenda aware of the truth that the Summit “should ship, taking into consideration the geopolitical panorama”, Ms. Kallas mentioned.
Moreover, the 2 sides are additionally aiming to conclude a Safety of Info Settlement, Ms. Kallas mentioned, including that in a harmful world, India and the E.U. may benefit from working collectively.
“[The] E.U. and India are shifting nearer collectively at a time when the rules-based worldwide order is underneath unprecedented strain by means of wars, coercion, and financial fragmentation,” she mentioned. Alongside the Russia-Ukraine warfare coming into its fourth yr subsequent month, Europe has confronted geopolitical shocks emanating from the White Home over the past yr, with U.S. President Donald Trump renegotiating the idea of the transatlantic relationship. In latest days, Mr. Trump threatened tariffs on a number of European international locations if they didn’t facilitate the switch of Greenland to the U.S.
Ms, Kallas instructed MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) that India and the E.U. should turn out to be extra bold companions. “Two main democracies can’t afford to hesitate,” she mentioned.
Throughout the go to to New Delhi subsequent week, the 2 sides plan to conclude an Memorandum of Understanding on a complete mobility framework, to facilitate the motion of scholars, seasonal staff, researchers and extremely expert professionals, and selling analysis and innovation, Ms. Kallas mentioned.
“Within the Indo-Pacific and past, Europe and India can assist anchor stability by defending open sea lanes, strengthening maritime area consciousness and resisting coercion in all of its varieties,” Ms. Kallas instructed parliamentarians.
Printed – January 22, 2026 04:12 am IST
