From trade deal to skill mobility & defence partnership: Full 13 outcomes of India-EU Summit

While the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was indeed the most consequential item on the agenda, India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday also signed agreements about the mobility of skilled workers and a defence partnership.

Overall, 13 agreements were reached during the India-EU Summit that spanned from trade, mobility, security and defence, finance, scientific and technological cooperation, and renewable energy.

The India-EU FTA

After announcing the "mother of all deals", von der Leyen said that the FTA will build on the natural complementarity of India and the EU.

Indeed, complementarity is the one of the guiding principles of the India-EU trade deal that is rooted in the unique manufacturing and export cultures of both the sides. That means that the India-EU FTA is likely to lower costs and expand trade rather than threaten domestic industries.

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India exports smartphones, garments and textiles, footwear, tyres, pharmaceuticals, automobile parts, refined fuels, and cut diamonds to the EU. Instead of competing with EU-based manufacturers, these exporters compete with exporters from third countries as EU has long outsourced manufacturing of these goods. Likewise, India's imports from EU complement Indian industries.

And this is why a mutual reduction of tariffs is likely to boost industries.

The EU exports high‑end machinery, aircraft, electronic components, chemicals, medical devices, and metal scrap, which feed Indian factories, recycling firms and medium and small companies, raising productivity and export competitiveness, according to GTRI.

India-EU security partnership

India and EU also signed an agreement to launch talks to set up the Security and Defence Partnership.

Firstpost's Madhur Sharma reported that European powers are looking to establish manufacturing hubs in India in a win‑win arrangement.

As Russian hybrid warfare has threatened European defence manufacturing, establishing a second line of production in India would not only secure supplies for Europe at a distant location where Russian sabotage would be unlikely, but also provide India with investment and the technical know‑how of sophisticated arms manufacturing.

This, a person aware of the matter said, would support India’s Make in India initiative and its wider indigenisation efforts in the defence sector.

While the FTA and security partnership stand out, here are all 13 outcomes of the India-EU Summit: