Days before the European Union's top leadership arrives in India as chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations and for the 16th EU-India Summit on January 27, the bloc's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, on Wednesday set the tone for what is being described as a pivotal reset in ties between the two strategic partners.
Addressing the European Parliament, Kallas said India is becoming "indispensable" for Europe's economic resilience and signalled that the EU is ready to deliver on a powerful new agenda with New Delhi spanning trade, security, technology and people-to-people ties. Her remarks come amid intensified preparations for the summit in New Delhi, which will be attended by the EU's top leadership and is expected to produce a raft of concrete deliverables.
Calling the upcoming meeting a "pivotal moment" with renewed political momentum, Kallas said the EU and India are moving closer together at a time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented strain from wars, coercion and economic fragmentation. "Two major democracies cannot afford to hesitate," she said, arguing that both sides share a responsibility to uphold international law, the UN Charter and an effective multilateral system fit for the 21st century.
At the heart of the summit will be the adoption of a new, comprehensive joint EU-India strategic agenda, which will chart the partnership's course towards 2030. According to Kallas, leaders will not just issue statements of intent but will endorse "concrete deliverables" designed to move the relationship "from words to actions".
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Three initiatives stand out. First, both sides aim to conclude negotiations on the long-pending EU-India Free Trade Agreement. Kallas said the deal would open markets, remove barriers and strengthen critical supply chains in key sectors such as clean technologies, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, areas that have gained strategic importance amid global supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions.
Second, the EU on Wednesday agreed to move forward with the signature of a new EU-India Security and Defence Partnership, which Kallas said she looks forward to signing in New Delhi next week. The agreement will expand cooperation in areas such as maritime security, counterterrorism and cyber-defence, and will be accompanied by the launch of negotiations on a security of information agreement. "In a more dangerous world, we will both gain from working closer together," she told lawmakers.
Third, the two sides plan to conclude a memorandum of understanding on a comprehensive framework for cooperation on mobility. This is expected to facilitate the movement of seasonal workers, students, researchers and highly skilled professionals, while also boosting collaboration in research and innovation, an area both see as central to long-term competitiveness.
Kallas underlined the economic stakes of the relationship, noting that the EU is already one of India's largest trading partners, while India is emerging as a cornerstone of Europe's economic resilience. The clean energy and climate partnership, she said, links climate ambition with industrial competitiveness, with cooperation spanning renewables, green hydrogen and sustainable manufacturing.
On the technology and security front, the EU-India Trade and Technology Council is shaping collaboration on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cybersecurity and digital infrastructure. The strategic aim, Kallas said, is "to embed trusted standards that shape global markets rather than to react to them."
She also highlighted the Indo-Pacific dimension of the partnership, arguing that Europe and India can help anchor stability by defending open sea lanes, strengthening maritime domain awareness and resisting coercion "in all of its forms".
With negotiations on the joint statement and the new strategic agenda still facing challenges, Kallas acknowledged that preparations have not been easy. But she stressed that work has been focused and cooperation with Indian partners productive, driven by a shared understanding that the summit must deliver in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.
As New Delhi prepares to host the EU's top leadership for Republic Day and the summit, Brussels' message on the relationship with India is no longer just about being important; it is becoming indispensable to Europe's strategic, economic and security calculus.
