The world is keenly watching the upcoming Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union. While the EU leaders have termed the agreement ‘mother of all deals’ and also added that a defence agreement is also on the cards, European leaders have now said that the era of protectionism and isolationism is over.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that this era has opportunities for countries that see benefits in the FTA. “In a few days, the EU Commissioner will go to India to agree on principles for a free trade deal. I was in India a week ago. This era has opportunities for countries that see benefit in free trade and not protectionism and isolationism,” said Merz.
Finland’s President Alex Stubb also hailed Europe’s FTA with India, terming it ‘the right geopolitical thing’.
JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon, while discussing Canadian PM Mark Carney’s speech that rattled the United States, said that America is doing some things that may not be good for it in the long run. “Canada’s PM Carney was in China, and now he’s going to India,” said Dimon, while hinting that alienating these nations is not in a good taste for the US.
Speaking at the WEF, Carney has said that missing out on India, China, MERCOSUR and EU was a mistake for any country. “That’s not managing your relationships properly. You need a web of connections,” he said.
Notably, many experts and even US Congress leaders have slammed Trump for pushing India towards Russia and China with biased tariffs.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar interacted with the Ambassadors from EU countries on Thursday and spoke to them about the current state of the world with volatility and instability as the new normal.
Sharing details of the meeting on X, Dr Jaishankar said that India made a case for stronger India-EU relations that will derisk the world economy by cooperating on resilient supply chains; reassure the international community by providing public goods like HADR, anti-piracy operations, development projects etc and stabilise the global order through stronger trade, mobility and security partnership.
India and the EU are looking to start a new chapter as strategic partners. EU leadership will be in India for Republic Day and the 16th EU–India Summit on 27 January, advancing cooperation for the welfare of people’s prosperity and global stability.
