Redefining India’s global economic position

The India-EU FTA is outcome-oriented. Once implemented, it will deliver gains across industry, services, MSMEs, investors, consumers, and professionals alike

- ANANT GOENKA

THE INDIA-EUROPEAN UNION (EU) free trade agreement (FTA) marks a defining moment in India’s economic diplomacy. Coming on the back of a series of new-generation trade agreements with key partners, this deal effectively completes India’s contemporary trade architecture by anchoring the country firmly within the world’s largest and most sophisticated markets.

With the EU on board, India is well positioned to accelerate exports, move decisively towards its USD 2-tril-lion export ambition, and integrate more deeply into global value chains.

More importantly, the agreement strengthens India’s role as a global manufacturing and export hub, aligning trade policy with the broader Viksit Bharat vision of becoming an upper-middle-income economy.

Few trade agreements carry the scale, ambition, and strategic weight of the India-EU FTA. Often described as the “mother of all deals”, it goes far beyond conventional tariff liberalisation. It represents a landmark achievement of India’s trade diplomacy and establishes a deeper economic partnership with a trusted, like-minded region at a time of profound global uncertainty.

What makes this agreement truly consequential is the convergence of timing, scale, and strategic depth.