Highlights of European Union President Ursula Leyen Visit to India
Visits
6 min read
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited India on 27-28 February 2025. She was also accompanied by the European Union College of Commissioners. This was the first visit of the European Union College of Commissioners to India and Ursula von der Leyen’s third visit to India.
The European Union College of Commissioners is composed of Commissioners from 27 member European Union countries. This was the first time that the College of Commissioners was visiting outside Europe.
During her visit to India, the second ministerial meeting of the India- EU Trade and Technology Council was also held in New Delhi.
Ursula von der Leyen meeting with PM Modi
Ursula von der Leyen held a meeting with Prime Minister Naredra Modi in New Delhi and discussed bilateral issues.
Both leaders issued a joint statement after their meeting.
Highlights of the joint statement.
- India EU to finalise a mutually beneficial free trade agreement in 2025.
- Expand and deepen cooperation in areas of clean energy and climate, water, smart and sustainable urbanization, connectivity, and disaster management
- Intensify cooperation in specific areas such as clean hydrogen, solar energy, offshore wind, sustainable urban mobility, aviation, and railways.
- Both will take steps for the realization of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
- The IMEC was proposed during the G-20 Summit meeting in New Delhi in 2023. It seeks to link the European Union countries with India through the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
- The eastern maritime link of the IMEC project links India and the Gulf Countries, and the northern section of the corridor connects the Arabian Peninsula to Europe.
2nd meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)
The second meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was held in New Delhi on 28 February 2025.
Meeting Co-Chaired by
India: External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
European Union: Ms. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy; Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation; and Maros Šefčovič, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency.
About TTC
- It was set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in April 2022.
- It is the main bilateral platform to discuss issues related to trade, trusted technology, and security.
- The first meeting was held in Brussels in May 2023.
Relation Between India and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a bloc of 27 European countries.
India and EU elevated their relation to Strategic Partnership in 2004.
The European Union is one of India's largest trading partners.
- The total trade between the two in 2023 was 124 billion euros 2023.
- The EU is the largest trading partner of India, followed by the USA and China.
- The EU is the second-largest export market for India after the United States of America.
- India is the EU’s 9th largest trading partner.
- Trade in goods between the EU and India has increased by almost 90% in the last decade.
- In 2023, the trade-in services between the EU and India were 59.7 billion euros.
- Around 6,000 European companies are present in India.
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