After nearly two decades of drift, hesitation and missed deadlines, India and the European Union finally appear serious about concluding a free trade agreement (FTA). The renewed urgency is not accidental.

It is the product of a rapidly changing global order, aggressive US protectionism under President Donald Trump, and Europe’s growing realisation that overdependence on Washington is no longer sustainable. For India, the moment offers a chance to secure markets, assert strategic autonomy and position itself as a central pillar of a multipolar world.

The political signalling could not be clearer. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s description of the proposed deal as “the mother of all deals" at the World Economic Forum, followed by her decision—along with European Council President Antonio Costa—to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations, is loaded with symbolism.

Republic Day is not just ceremonial pageantry; it is India’s assertion of sovereignty, constitutionalism and strategic independence. For EU leaders to anchor a summit around 26 January is a deliberate acknowledgement of India’s rising geopolitical weight.

This is a far cry from the era when Brussels treated New Delhi largely as a difficult but dispensable negotiating partner. Since talks began in 2007, EU–India trade negotiations have repeatedly stalled over market access, labour mobility, agriculture, automobiles and regulatory standards. For years, Europe lectured India on openness while sheltering its own farmers and industries behind generous subsidies and complex non-tariff barriers.

India, for its part, refused to sacrifice domestic producers at the altar of globalisation, especially after witnessing how free trade devastated manufacturing in parts........

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