In a landmark move reshaping international commerce, India and the European Union have inked a free trade agreement dubbed the ‘Mother of All Deals.’ This pact arrives amid rising regional tensions, soaring tariffs, and faltering global institutions, offering a beacon of multilateral cooperation.
Announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the deal promises to unite nearly 2 billion consumers and a quarter of global GDP. Experts hail it as a pivotal step in a transforming world order.
Professor Ravinder Kaur from the University of Copenhagen’s Asian Studies department notes that the burgeoning India-EU partnership underscores commitments to bolstering international bodies, enhancing security and defense ties, advancing research, facilitating people-to-people mobility, and improving connectivity—extending into the Indo-Pacific region.
As the United States appears to retreat into regionalism, the Indo-Pacific is opening up to deeper EU collaboration, Kaur argues. She describes a ‘post-US world’ already taking shape, with the India-EU FTA as a prime example.
Brussels has also sealed a deal with South America’s Mercosur trade bloc, with more agreements in the pipeline. India itself has recently finalized pacts with the UK and New Zealand, signaling a broader realignment.
Kaur emphasizes that while implementation hurdles loom, these deals point to seismic global shifts toward multipolarity, strategic autonomy, and reduced dollar dependence—a vision long cherished by nations beyond the West, now accelerating.
From New York, Asia Society’s South Asia expert suggests the India-EU FTA may have spurred the US to expedite its own trade talks with India. Farwa Ameer, director of the South Asia Initiative at the Asia Society Policy Institute, remarked that longstanding India-US negotiations gained fresh momentum post-EU deal, highlighting its timely impact.