NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for a “double engine” growth approach amid “turmoil in global environment” as India and the European Union signed the “historic” free trade agreement on Tuesday.“There is turmoil in global environment; India-EU will provide stability to world order,” PM Modi said at the India-EU Business Forum.Terming it the “biggest free trade agreement” and a “blueprint for common prosperity”, PM Modi said: “This alignment is not an accident. As market economies, we share common values, we have shared priorities for global stability, and as open societies, there is a natural connection between our people. It is on this strong foundation that we are taking our partnership to new heights.”“We are establishing it as one of the world’s most influential partnerships, and the results are clearly visible. In the last 10 years, our trade has doubled to reach 180 billion Euros. More than 6,000 European companies are operating in India. There is over 120 billion Euros of investment from the European Union in India. 1,500 Indian companies are present in the European Union,” he added.PM Modi provided further details of the scale of India–EU economic engagement and the broader vision behind the agreement.“Indian investment in the EU has reached almost 40 billion euros. Today, there is deep cooperation between India and European companies in every sector, including R&D, manufacturing, and services, and business leaders like you are both the drivers and beneficiaries of this. Now is the time to transform this partnership into a whole-of-society partnership. With this vision, we have today finalized a comprehensive FTA,” he said.He also outlined the sector-wise benefits of the FTA and its significance amid global economic uncertainty.“This will provide easy access to the European Union market for India’s labour-intensive products. This includes textiles, gems and jewellery, auto parts, and engineering goods. Fruits, vegetables, processed foods, and marine products will see new opportunities. Our farmers and fishermen will directly benefit from this. Our service sector will also benefit. The IT, education, traditional medicine, and business services sectors will particularly benefit,” he said.India and Europe finalized an ambitious free trade agreement, hailed as the “mother of all deals”, at a time of heightened global tensions and widespread trade disruptions, much of them stemming from Trump’s tariff policies. The long-pending FTA is expected to markedly deepen bilateral engagement by unlocking fresh avenues for cooperation across a wide range of sectors.
