The senior leaders of the European Union are scheduled to land in India as chief guests for Republic Day festivities alongside the 16th EU-India Summit on 27th January. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which continues to be negotiated, is the primary objective. Meanwhile, on 21st January (Wednesday), the bloc’s vice president and foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, set the tone for the crucial landmark in ties between the two strategic allies and announced a partnership on security and defence.
She stated, “This is a pivotal moment for our bilateral relationship with renewed political momentum and a clear sense of purpose. Today we agreed to move forward with the signature of a new EU-India security and defence partnership in areas like maritime security, cybersecurity and counterterrorism, ” addressing the European Parliament referring to India as “indispensable.”
Europe is ready to deliver on a powerful new agenda with India.
Today, the EU agreed to move forward with the signature of a new Security and Defence Partnership.
It will expand our cooperation in areas such as maritime security, counterterrorism and cyber-defence.
I look… pic.twitter.com/3SQQRovTYb
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) January 21, 2026
The high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy outlined that a new integrated, comprehensive strategic agenda will be adopted. From 25th to 27th January, EU Council President Antonio Costa and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are going to visit the country as special guests to attend the 77th Republic Day celebrations. Kaja Kallas will accompany them as the leaders will co-chair the summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kallas expressed that the visit preparations were going well. She outlined, “Work has been coordinated, focused and cooperation with Indian partners has been productive. Negotiations on the joint statement and the new strategic agenda have been driven by determination and understanding on both sides.” She further stressed, “This summit must take into account the geopolitical landscape.”
Kallas underlined how the two nations are moving closer together in the face of the unprecedented strain that wars, coercion and economic fragmentation are placing on the rule-based international order. She asserted, “Two major democracies cannot afford to hesitate. We must become more ambitious partners.” She maintained that upholding international law, the United Nations Charter and a successful multilateral system appropriate for the twenty-first century and beyond is a responsibility shared by both parties.
What is on the agenda
The approval of a new, comprehensive joint EU-India strategic agenda, which will steer the alliance towards 2030, will be the main focus of the summit. Kallas assured that leaders will support “concrete deliverables” intended to take the partnership “from words to actions” rather than merely making declarations of purpose.
Both parties want to wrap up talks on the long-running EU-India Free Trade Agreement. According to Kallas, the agreement would reinforce vital supply chains, open markets, and remove obstacles in important industries like semiconductors, clean technologies and pharmaceuticals.
The EU also decided to proceed with the signing of a new EU-India Security and Defence Partnership “in areas like maritime security, counterterrorism and cyber-defence.” There will also be negotiations on a security of information agreement. Kallas voiced, “In a more dangerous world, we will both gain from working closer together.”
The two parties intend to finalise a memorandum of understanding regarding a thorough framework for mobility cooperation. This will facilitate the movement of seasonal workers, students, researchers and highly skilled professionals while promoting research and innovation.”
Notably, the EU and India are going to sign a historic trade deal just days after the European Parliament suspended the trade deal signed with US over Donald Trump’s Greenland threats. After the US president announced a 10% tariff on 8 European nations for opposing Trump’s plan to annexe Greenland, the European Parliament blocked a vote to ratify the FTA signed in July last year. As a result, Trump has withdrawn the tariff threat, but continues to insist on adding Greenland to the USA.
EU-India partnership’s significance
Kallas mentioned, “These deliverables reflect our shared priorities. On prosperity and clean transition EU is already one of India’s largest trading partners, and India is becoming indispensable to Europe’s economic resilience. Our clean energy and climate partnership links climate ambition with industrial competitiveness. We cooperate on renewables, green hydrogen and sustainable manufacturing.”
She noted that the EU-India Trade and Technology Council is already fostering cooperation in the areas of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cybersecurity and digital infrastructure with the “simple but strategic goal to embed trusted standards that shape global markets rather than to react to them.”
She also shed light on the partnership’s role in Indo-Pacific and beyond, remarking that they “can help anchor stability by defending open sea lanes, strengthening maritime domain awareness and resisting coercion in all of its forms.”
“This summit matters for what it sets in motion, a more ambitious, more operational EU-India partnership. We have an opportunity to turn political momentum into progress. For our citizens, for our companies, for our economies and also upholding rules based order on which out security and prosperity depend,” Kallas reiterated.
